WHEN AN INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHT BECOMES OBJECT OF ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION...
Patents, industrial models and trademarks belong to the assets of a company and as such they may be sold and assigned to third parties, with or without the related business and goodwill; being freely disposable, their owner may also renounce them or limit the exclusive rights deriving therefrom.
Moreover, industrial property rights may be licensed or granted in franchising and merchandising and may be object of co-existence agreements.
In Italy, inter vivos deeds, with or free of charges, which constitute, amend or transfer personal or real rights in industrial property, as well as the deeds that have the effect to split, to constitute a joint ownership on or to renounce these rights and the judicial decisions which declare the existence of the aforesaid deeds, must be registered at the Italian Patent and Trademark Office. The declaration effect of this registration allows the registrar to prevail over other purchasers of the same right.
Also the changes of name and address of the owner of a patent or trademark must be registered.