How to register a trademark in Italy

A trademark is used by business entities to identify their goods. If a company or entrepreneur plans to expand into Italy, or to launch new products on the Italian market, they can obtain protection for the designation in the following ways:

• by applying to the national patent service UIBM - with this option of registration, the documents are submitted in Italian, and the certificate will be valid only within the country;
• by registering under the Madrid system - in this case you can indicate in the application form not only Italy, but also a number of other member countries of the Madrid Agreement, on the territory of which the certificate will be valid.

It is also possible to register a trademark through the EU Patent Office - EUIPO, the disadvantages of this system are that protection is spread over all EU countries, in case of problems with registration in one country, the application will be rejected completely.

Not only residents, but also foreign companies can secure the rights to the designation in Italy. For them it is possible to file an application and conduct business only through patent attorneys accredited by UIBM. Also for national patenting it is necessary to pay the fees stipulated by the Italian patent law. For international application a single state duty is remitted, and its amount will depend on the number of selected states and classes of products according to the Nice Classification of Products.

Italy has standard requirements for the form of the trademark and the contents of the application. The designation may be expressed in the form of text, graphics, a combination of these elements, sound file and other objects. The content of the application includes not only the designation itself, but also its description - the applicant must disclose the meaning and essence of the trademark, decipher the meaning and abbreviations. Also submitted for registration are an application and a register of goods under the classification of the Nice Classification of Goods. It is necessary to indicate the classes of products according to the Nice Classification of Goods, as the protection regime will apply only to the selected categories of goods.

Trademark renewal

During the period of validity of the certificate, it does not need to be renewed by paying annual fees (unlike patents for inventions and other industrial property objects). Moreover, after the expiration of 10 years, a company can extend the trademark protection regime an unlimited number of times. This can be done by filing an application to UIBM and paying the state duty.

The right to extend the certificate will also arise for the purchaser of the trademark. After conclusion of the assignment agreement and its registration at the UIBM, the set of exclusive rights will be transferred to the acquirer. He will be able to apply for renewal according to the general rules.