Intellectual Property and Advertising Law: protection of intellectual and industrial property

Our team provides legal assistance to Italian and foreign companies in protecting and maximizing the value of their industrial property rights (trademarks, domain names, patents, designs, software, know-how, geographical indications, etc.), helping them identify and plan the most effective protection strategies, and in defense proceedings both in court and out-of-court against unauthorized use by third parties.

We also offer assistance to companies and authors/artists in the protection, management and exploitation of copyrights on intellectual works of any kind (works of literature, music, film, figurative arts, photography, architecture, etc.), assisting in the identification and implementation of the best tools and strategies for protection, exploitation, and distribution, and for defense of such rights, both in court and out-of-court.

We specialize in consultancy in the field of advertising law and consumer protection, providing assistance to Italian and foreign companies to ensure that their commercial, advertising and promotional initiatives comply with the applicable regulations and assisting the companies in litigation before the various competent authorities (IAP, AGCM, AGCOM, ordinary courts).

IP integration with M&A, Tax and Labor Law

Thanks to our multidisciplinary approach, we collaborate in synergy with other departments within our firm and, in particular, with

  1. M&A: to assist domestic and international companies in extraordinary transactions involving intellectual property rights.
  2. Business Incentives and Tax Credits: in applying for incentives (such as the Patent Box) that require a preliminary analysis of the protectability and validity of IP rights eligible for tax credits.
  3. Corporate Tax: in identifying and evaluating intellectual property rights forming part of the company assets.
  4. Labor Law: in preparing employment contracts relating to inventive activities and in consultancy in matters of employee inventions.

 

Industrial property: trademarks, patents, software and know-how

Our main areas of specialization are the law of trademarks, domain names, software, designs, know-how and trade secrets, patents, geographical indications and unfair competition.

Registration and management of industrial property rights

We assist companies in all commodity  sectors in the following activities:

  • filing of IP rights at the Italian, European and international levels (trademarks, designs, patents, software, domain names, geographical indications)
  • preparing and negotiating contracts relating to IP rights (assignment, licensing, coexistence, research and development, software development, co-branding agreements, etc.).
  • advisory services in relation to IP rights (their protectability, defense, registrability, etc.).

Litigation and defense of industrial property rights

  • assistance out-of-court and in court before administrative bodies (UIBM, EUIPO, WIPO) and ordinary courts in proceedings concerning IP rights (suits for opposition, invalidity, forfeiture for non-use, infringement, description, UDRP domain name disputes, etc.).
  • assistance with extraordinary transactions involving IP rights (due diligence and analysis of the IP assets involved in the transaction)

Copyright and image rights

We specialize primarily in the fields of publishing, music, cinema, architecture, and figurative arts. In particular, we assist all industry players (publishing houses, record companies, film producers, artists, architects, galleries, foundations, archives, museums, etc.) in the following activities:

Copyright and image rights exploitation contracts

  • preparing and negotiating contracts relating to copyrights (publishing contracts, contracts for the commissioning of works of art and architecture, film production/coproduction/executive production contracts, record production contracts, contracts for the sale/free loan of works of art, image rights assignment contracts, etc.)
  • advisory services in relation to copyright and image rights (their protectability, defense, distribution, concession, etc.)

Litigation and defence of copyright and image rights

  • assistance out-of-court and in court in proceedings concerning copyright and image rights (counterfeiting, plagiarism, infringement of an author’s moral rights, etc.).

Advertising Law and Consumer Protection

In relation to advertising law and consumer protection, we assist Italian and foreign companies in all commodity sectors in the following main activities:

Compliance review and litigation of advertising campaigns

  • advisory services in relation to compliance of advertising initiatives (commercials, print/radio/TV campaigns, claims, labeling, influencer marketing, etc.) and promotions (competitions and prize-giving events, discounts and offers, promotions, etc.) with consumer protection and competition regulations
  • preparing and negotiating contracts relating to the realization of advertising campaigns, sponsorships, influencer marketing, etc.
  • assistance out of-court and in court in proceedings concerning advertising and promotional initiatives before the various competent authorities (IAP, AGCM, AGCOM, ordinary courts)

The Firm’s Commitment to IP and Advertising

The professionals on our team are also active in publishing articles and contributions in peer-reviewed journals and are often called upon to speak at conferences/webinars/training events relating to IP and Advertising.

Our firm is also an active member of several trade associations operating in the field of intellectual property, with which it actively collaborates to promote and raise awareness of IP and Advertising issues among Italian and foreign companies.