Italian Patent

THIS IS THE USUAL STARTING POINT...

The patent for industrial invention is the instrument that the law makes available to protect a technological innovation. It has a duration of 20 years from the application filing date.

The patent gives its owner the right to forbid others to manufacture, commercialize, sell or import the patented matter. The patent may be sold or licensed against payment of a money consideration to the owner.

In general, in order to be patented, an invention must be a solution of a technical problem, must be new, that is never made known in Italy or abroad, it must involve inventive matter, that is must not appear evident for a skilled person from the state of the art, and must be adapted for being industrially applied.

The inventions can relate, for example, to a machine, a device, an electronic circuit, a chemical compound, a working process and so on.

To see whether an idea is innovative before filing a patent application is advisable to provide a patent search. To ensure a quality service we use an international patents database for fee which includes English translations of at least part of any patent document.

It is important to note that even a disclosure of the invention by the same inventor or assignee before the filing of the patent application removes novelty and constitutes ground for revocation of the patent.

Since 2008 the Italian patent applications are object of a patent search by the European Patent Office on behalf of the Italian Patent and Trademark Office that issues to the applicant a search report normally within 10-11 months from the filing of the patent application, thus allowing a first evaluation of innovation before the end of the priority year useful to decide about the extension of the patent application abroad.

A patent application is convertible in an utility model application.

Invention Patents