PATENTS

A patent protects an invention and gives its owner the exclusive right to exploit that invention for a fixed period of time, up to a maximum of 20 years.
An invention is a solution in any technical field that is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable.
A patent is a territorial right that confers protection limited to one country and that is subject to the local national laws of that country.
It is possible to file a patent in Italy and in other countries of interest around the world, directly or as an extension of the Italian patent.
ACCAPI assists its clients in the protection and management of their patent portfolio and in completing all related activities, such as::

  • Patent searches in Italy and worldwide
  • Preparation and filing of patents in Italy and worldwide
  • Examining and granting procedures
  • Opposition against granting of third-party patents
  • Patent monitoring
  • Registrations and annotations of deeds in Italy and abroad which modify the patent ownership
  • Opinions on interference with prior patents
  • Technical and legal assistance in judicial and extrajudicial disputes
  • Assistance with contracts for patent licensing and for assignment and transfers of patent rights

 

And speaking of patents…

  • Thomas Edison did not patent the kinetoscope in the United Kingdom; this allowed Robert William Paul to market his own version of the invention in 1894. The revenues thus generated permitted Robert William Paul to found a company to produce instruments, the Robert W. Paul Instrument Company. Therefore, Edison had to settle for exclusivity only in the territory of the United States.
  • In 1924 Frank Epperson patented the method for making ice pops, remembering how, when he was a child, on a winter night he had left on the windowsill a glass of water and soda with its stirring stick still in it.
    It is estimated that in 1928, only four years after the grant of the patent, Frank Epperson received royalties on 60 million ice pops sold in the United States.


TRADEMARKS

A trademark is anything that helps to uniquely distinguish and recognize a product or service of a company from that of other companies; the trademark can consist of a graphically representable marking, such as a word, a phrase, a drawing, or a sound, a shape, a colour combination or shade of colour.
The purpose of a trademark is to communicate that the products or services so marked originate from an exclusive source that is distinguishable from the competition.
A registered trademark gives the owner the right to prohibit third parties from using the trademark itself and even similar trademarks on related goods and services in the country of registration.
ACCAPI assists its clients in the protection and management of their trademarks portfolio and in completing all related activities, such as::

  • Trademark searches in Italy and worldwide
  • Registration of trademarks in every country or region of interest and management of the related registration procedures
  • Procedures for opposition to registration and for cancellation of trademarks
  • Trademark monitoring
  • Registrations and annotations of deeds in Italy and abroad which modify the trademark ownership
  • Opinions on interference with prior distinctive markings
  • Legal assistance in judicial and extrajudicial disputes
  • Assistance with contracts for trademark licensing and for assignment and transfers of trademark rights
  • Economic valuation of trademarks

 

And speaking of trademarks…

  • According to a study produced by the Ministry of Economic Development, the turnover for products with counterfeit trademarks in Italy exceeded 6.5 billion Euro.
  • Counterfeiting trademarks is not a modern phenomenon, if we consider that Antonio Stradivari was also one of its victims. In fact, numerous violins dating from the 18th century have been found in whose interiors it is present an imitation of the famous cartouche “Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno”, the famous Cremonese luthier’s unmistakable trademark.


DESIGNS

Registration of a design allows protecting the appearance of a product, in its entirety or a part of it, such appearance resulting from the characteristics of its lines, contours, colours, shape, and surface structure.
The product can be any industrial or artisan object, a component to be assembled into a more complex product, a package, a graphic symbol, a topographical character or a presentation.
The design can be registered in Italy and in other countries of interest around the world, directly or as an extension of the Italian design.
ACCAPI assists its clients in the protection and management of their designs portfolio and in completing all related activities, such as::

  • Designs searches in Italy and worldwide
  • Preparation and registration of designs in Italy and worldwide and management of the related registration and renewal procedures
  • Invalidity procedures
  • Registrations and annotations of deeds in Italy and abroad which modify the design ownership
  • Opinions on interference with prior designs
  • Technical and legal assistance in judicial and extrajudicial disputes
  • Assistance with contracts for design licensing and for assignment and transfers of design rights

 

And speaking of designs…

  • The father of industrial design is universally acknowledged to be Raymond Loewy, who from the ‘20s through to the ‘70s registered dozens of designs in a wide range of fields: from consumer products to means of transport. His fame became so great that in 1963 he was commissioned by the United States Federal Government to design the postage stamp commemorating the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
  • The design of the K Series Red Telephone Box spread throughout the United Kingdom for almost 60 years, from 1926 to 1985, when it was replaced by a new model. Despite the fact that it has not been in production for thirty years, according to one survey the Red Telephone Box is the most iconic item of British culture.


DOMAIN NAMES

A domain name is an alphanumerical combination followed by a Top Level Domain (TLD), for example, “.com” or “.it” or “.eu,” which uniquely identifies a website on the Internet in such a manner that it can be reached from any device by means of an Internet browser.
With the ever wider spreading of the Internet in our daily lives and our work, it is necessary to protect intellectual property also in this ambit.
Therefore, ACCAPI offers a domain name registration service as well as a monitoring service to protect their clients from the registration of identical names or names that are confusingly similar.

FINANCING

ACCAPI provides support and assistance to its clients when requesting bonuses and incentives in connection with industrial property.