Inventions and utility models. The invention is a new and original solution given to a technical problem and suitable for a practical application in industrial field.
The utility model is different from the invention as it gives a particular efficiency or ease of application or use to a product without there being a real innovative solution to a technical problem. The invention and the utility model may be protected through patents, which constitute an exclusive right over their duration. Once filed a patent application this may however be affected due to any prior disclosure of the invention or of the utility model that it is meant to protect. It is therefore essential to maintain absolute secrecy until the patent application is filed.
According to the international laws it is possible to protect, through a patent application, material entities or products (machines, equipment, tools, topographies of semiconductor products, plant varieties, chemicals) as well as methods and processes and sometimes software as well.The Italian patent is a good point of departure for the one who wants to protect his invention or utility model on the national territory. However it is advisable to obtain a European or worldwide (PCT) patent choosing the countries where to exploit the invention. It is also possible to obtain a single patent protection nation by nation. The patent will improve and it will be possible to get a profit directly proceeding to industrial realizations, granting an appropriate
license to use against the payment of royalties or assigning the patent to a third party against cash consideration. In the event of counterfeiting of own patent the owner will be able to take legal steps in order to obtain by the competent court a protection measure, as well as damages compensation (both concerning assets and image). It is also possible to file before the European Patent Office (EPO) a patent opposition to other’s one in order to obtain the revocation or limitation, should this last be considered granted without justification or in violation of prior rights.
Our competencies
- Assessment on patentability.
- Studying, drafting and filing of Italian, European or international (PCT) patent applications before the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (UIBM), the European Patent Office (EPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
- Filing of patent applications for industrial inventions and utility models abroad too through an extensive network of qualified associates.
- Assistance in examination procedures of the patent application.
- Assistance in patent opposition procedures both active and passive.
- Prosecutions of national, foreign national, European and international patent applications.
- Searches by name or subject in the field of inventions and utility models.
- Continuous or periodic monitoring by name or by subject.
- Assistance in ordinary and urgency judgments before the competent courts concerning infringement and validity of patents, as well as advice and assistance out of court.