Organic provisions for the valorisation, promotion and protection of Made in Italy

On 11 January 2024, the Law no. 206, dated 27 December 2023 containing"Organic provisions for the valorisation, promotion and protection of Made in Italy" will enter into force, introducing several innovations regarding intellectual property rights, to protect consumers and

national companies. In particular:

- Restoration of the 3i Voucher, an economic incentive intended for innovative start-ups and micro-enterprises for the purchase of consultancy services needed to verify the patentability of an invention

and obtaining patents;

- Strengthening the protection of trademarks of particular national interest, for which the Ministry will be able to take over the ownership of the trademark free of charge and, for trademarks not used for at

least 5 years, the Ministry will be able to file an application for registration of the trademark in its own name and use the trademark in favor of companies intending to invest in Italy;

- Introduction, for cultural institutions and places, of the possibility of registering their trademark and licensing it to third parties for a fee with the aim of enhancing and protecting the cultural heritage of the State;

- Strengthening the protection of .it domain names to combat any abuse in the registration and use of .it domain names referable to cultural institutions and places;

- Establishment of a repertoire of the works of digital creators (defined as "artists who develop original works with high digital content") in order to protect their rights;

- Establishment of a fund for the protection abroad of Italian geographical indications for agricultural products, food, wine and spirits, as well as agri-food products of companies based in Italy;

- Introduction of new provisions aimed at combating counterfeiting, including measures aimed at improving the training of justice operators, the tightening of administrative sanctions for the purchase and import of counterfeit goods, the modification of some rules relating to the sale of products with false signs and to the destruction of the counterfeit goods subject to seizure.