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5BLegislative Provisions on Industrial Model Patents, Royal

Decree No. 1411 of August 25, 1940F *

(as last amended by Legislative Decree No. 198 of March 19, 1996)

TABLE OF CONTENTSF **

Articles

Title I General ......................................................................................................................H1

Title II Utility Model Patents........................................................................................... HU2-4U

Title III Industrial Design Patents.................................................................................... HU5-8U

Title IV Provisions Common to Utility Model Patents and Industrial Design Patents . HU9-13U

Title V Transitional Provisions.................................................................................... HU14-17U

Table A Schedule of FeesF 1

Table B Acts and Documents Subject to Stamp Duty Other than Those Specified by Law

No. 3268 (Unified Text) of December 30, 1923, as AmendedF 2

0BTitle I General

Art. 1. Royal Decree No. 1127, of June 29, 1939, on Industrial InventionsF 3

F shall

apply, in addition to such inventions, also to

— utility models and

— industrial designs.

However, the provisions of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall have

effect in those fields to the extent that the said Decree is applicable, subject to the

provisions of the Articles that follow.

* Italian title: Regio decreto 25 agosto 1940, n. 1411. Testo delle disposizioni legislative

in materia di brevetti per modelli industriali.

Entry into force (of last amending Decree): April 15, 1996.

Note: Consolidation and translation by the International Bureau of WIPO on the basis of

an English translation supplied by the Italian authorities. **

Added by the International Bureau of WIPO. 1

Not reproduced here (Editor’s note). 2

Not reproduced here (Editor’s note). 3

See Industrial Property Laws and Treaties, ITALY — Text 2-001.

1BTitle II Utility Model Patents

Art. 2. Utility model patents may be obtained for new models capable of affording

special effectiveness or ease of application or use to machines or parts of machines, to

instruments, to utensils and everyday objects, where they consist in special forms,

arrangements, configurations or combinations of elements.

A patent granted for a machine as a whole shall not imply protection of the parts of

the machine.

The effects of a utility model patent shall extend to models having equivalent

utility, on condition that they are based on the same innovative concept.

Art. 3. The right to the patent shall belong to the author of the new utility model

and to his successors in title.

However, where such models are created by employees, Articles 23, 24 and 25 of

Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall apply unless otherwise agreed.

Art. 4. Anyone applying for a patent for invention may, in accordance with Royal

Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, simultaneously file an application for a utility model

patent in the event of the first-mentioned application not being accepted or only being

accepted in part.

Where the application is made in respect of a model instead of an invention or vice

versa, the Italian Patent and Trademark Office shall invite the applicant to amend his

application within the time limit notified to him. However, the application shall have

effect as from the date of the initial filing.

Where the application for a utility model patent also concerns an invention or vice

versa, Article 29 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, as amended, shall apply.

2BTitle III Industrial Design Patents

Art. 5. Industrial design patents may be obtained for new designs capable of

affording special ornamentation to given industrial products by means of the form or by a

special combination of lines, colors or other elements.

Neither the provisions of copyright nor those of Article 27ter of Royal Decree No.

1127 of June 29, 1939, as amended, shall apply to such designs.

Art. 6. One application may contain up to a maximum of 100 designs, on condition

that they are intended for incorporation in articles classified in the same class of the

International Classification for Industrial Designs established by the Locarno Agreement

of October 8, 1968, as amended, ratified by Law No. 348 of May 22, 1974.

Subject to the preceding paragraph and to HUArticle 8UH, an application for the grant of

more than one patent or an application for one patent covering more than one model shall

not be admissible. Where the application is not admissible, the Italian Patent and

Trademark Office shall invite the applicant, in accordance with Article 29 of Royal

Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, as amended, to restrict the application to the

admissible part.

A patent covering more than one design, referred to in this Article, may be limited,

at the request of the owner, in accordance with Article 59quater of Royal Decree

No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, as amended.

Art. 7. The right to the patent shall belong to the creator of a new industrial design

and to his successors in title.

Unless otherwise agreed, the patent for an industrial design created by an

employee, where such work forms part of his tasks, shall belong to the employer, without

prejudice to the employee’s right to be acknowledged as the creator of the design and to

have his name entered in the Patent Register and on the patent.

Art. 8. Where the shape or design of an object gives it a new ornamental nature and

at the same time increases its utility in accordance with HUArticle 2UH, above, a patent may be

applied for simultaneously for an industrial design and for a utility model, whereby the

two forms of protection may not be covered by the same patent.

Where the application concerns an object whose shape or design affords it a new

ornamental nature and at the same time increases its utility, Article 29 of Royal Decree

No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, as amended, shall apply.

3BTitle IV Provisions Common to Utility Model Patents and

Industrial Design Patents

Art. 9. The term of utility model patents shall be 10 years and that of industrial

design patents 15 years, as from filing of the application.

Art. 10. The Italian Patent and Trademark Office shall lay open to the public the

utility model application, together with the description and any drawings or samples, in

accordance with Article 4 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, as amended.

The Italian Patent and Trademark Office shall lay open to the public the application

for an industrial design, together with the reproduction or samples and any descriptions,

following filing, except where the applicant has excluded, in the application, availability

to the public for a period which may not exceed 12 months as from the filing date or

priority date.

In those cases referred to in the preceding paragraphs, the Italian Patent and

Trademark Office shall not undertake the publication referred to in the second paragraph

of Article 38 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, as amended.

Art. 11. Utility model patents and industrial design patents shall be subject to

payment of the following fees:

(1) the application fee;

(2) the granting fee.

The amounts of the fees laid down by this Decree are given in Table AF 4

F annexed

hereto.

4 Not reproduced here (Editor’s note).

The acts and documents subject to stamp duty, other than those specified by Law

No. 3268 (unified text) of December 30, 1923, are given in Table BF 5

F annexed hereto.

Art. 12. The granting fee may be paid in a single payment or in five-year

installments.

The granting fee for textile designs may be paid in yearly installments.

Articles 46 et seq. and the related provisions of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29,

1939, concerning renewal fees for patents for invention shall apply to payment of the

above-mentioned installments of the granting fee.

Art. 13. Articles 54 to 54sexies of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, as

amended, and Articles 3 and 4 of Decree No. 849 of the President of the Republic of

February 26, 1968, governing the grant of compulsory licenses for patents for invention

shall extend to utility model patents.

In the event of failure to pay installments of the granting fee, Articles 55 et seq. and

the related provisions of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, concerning failure to

pay renewal fees for patents for invention shall apply.

4BTitle V Transitional Provisions

Arts. 14. to 17. [Obsolete.]

TABLE A Schedule of Fees

....F 6

TABLE B Acts and Documents Subject to Stamp Duty Other than Those Specified by

Law No. 3268 (Unified Text) of December 30, 1923, as Amended

....F 7

5 Not reproduced here (Editor’s note).

6 Not reproduced here (Editor’s note).

7 Not reproduced here (Editor’s note).