A new Italian law aiming to protect and promote Italian products and cultural heritage introduces new rules concerning the protection of trademarks “of special national interest and value”, encourages the registration of trademarks and domain names by cultural institutions and heritage sites and creates a copyright register for the works of digital creators; anti-counterfeiting provisions are amended to increase penalties and extend their applicability.

Italian Law of 27 December 2023, n. 206, on the enhancement, promotion and protection of Italian-made products (often referred to as il Made in Italy by Italians), was published in the Official Journal of 27 December 2023, n. 300 and came into force on 11 January 2024.

The law, which has the general aim of enhancing and promoting both at home and abroad Italy’s products of excellence and cultural heritage, also introduces changes concerning intellectual property rights: those of potential interest for non-Italian readers are summarised below.

Protection of trademarks of special national interest and value

This provision concerns Italian companies that are owners or licensees of a trademark registered for at least 50 years, or for which continuous use for at least 50 years can be demonstrated: in the event that a company with these characteristics intends to definitively terminate its activity, must notify the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy in advance.

In order to protect trademarks of particular national interest and value, the ministry may take over ownership of the trademark free of charge, unless it has been sold.

The ministry may file an application for registration in its own name of trademarks that have not been used for at least 5 years, and use the trademarks in favour of Italian or foreign companies intending to invest in Italy, also by transferring their productive activities to Italy.

Practical implementation of the above provisions will be detailed in a further decree.

Trademarks and domain names relating to cultural institutions and heritage sites

Cultural institutions and heritage sites may register their trademark pursuant to article 19, paragraph 3, of the Italian Industrial Property Code, and may license it to third parties for a fee, with proceeds going to the state to fund the protection of cultural heritage.

The Ministry of Culture is to conclude an agreement with the registrar of .it domain names to strengthen protection and combat abusive registrations and use of .it domain names referred to cultural institutions and heritage sites.

Register of works by digital creators

The new law establishes a register of the works of digital creators (defined as “artists who develop original works with elevated digital content”) in order to protect their rights. The register will be established within the general public register of protected works referred to in Article 103 of Italian copyright law.

Anti-counterfeiting provisions

The new law introduces several changes aimed to improve anti-counterfeiting legislation, including measures to enhance the specialized training of judges and court staff as well as to increase administrative sanctions for the purchase and importation of counterfeit goods; existing provisions on the repression of counterfeiting, including criminal ones have been amended, inter alia to extend the applicability both of penalties for the sale of industrial products with false signs and of the provisions on destruction of seized counterfeit goods.

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