The IP Section of the Court of Milan ruled on the age-old issue of the assessment of the descriptive character of a trademark and in particular the coincidence of the trade mark with a characteristic of the product.

The Italian Ministry of Economic Development released new guidelines on prize competitions. Prizes in cryptocurrencies are not allowed as they are comparable to forbidden cash prizes. NFTs and similar are instead allowed,

The Italian Competition Authority closed, without issuing any sanctions in acceptance of the commitments of Idealista S.p.A, the procedure in which it had contested unfair commercial practices relating to alleged misleading advertising where the company called itself "No. 1 in Italy".

The EUIPO (European Intellectual Property Office) has renewed the SME Fund for 2023 to provide financial support to EU small and medium-sized enterprises for the protection of their intellectual property rights.

The EU General Court (Case T-553/21) has ruled on the issue of trademark revocation and clarified what elements a trademark owner must provide to prove genuine use.

The Italian Budget Law for 2023 laid out the new tax regime for crypto-assets, defined as "a digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred or stored electronically, using a distributed ledger or similar technology".

The CJEU clarified whether and under what conditions the operator of an online sales platform can be held liable for trademark infringement by third-party sellers within the platform.

In its recent Order No. 348 of 20 October 2022, the Italian Data Protection Authority ruled on the data collection and processing policies for marketing and profiling purposes of Douglas Italia S.p.a., the renowned perfume and cosmetics chain.

As of 29 December 2022, eligible subjects will be able to file an application with the Italian Patent and Trademark Office for a declaration of invalidity or revocation of a registered trademark.

The affixing of a sign which is identical to a trade mark registered, inter alia, in respect of motor vehicles to scale models of that make of vehicle in order to reproduce those vehicles faithfully is not intended to provide an indication as to a characteristic of those scale models, but is merely an element in the faithful reproduction of the original vehicles

The Supreme Court disputes the assessment of the absence of distinctive character made by the Court of Appeal: "Its statement that the shapes of the Kelly and Birkin bags are "standardised" is apodictic, as it does not explain the reasons for the lack of original and acquired distinctive character".

In a decision dated 18 October 2022, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) fined the Company Mediamarket, which owns and controls the Mediaworld brand, 3.6 million euros for unfair commercial practices characterised by misleading and aggressive behaviour towards consumers.

The European General Court, while reiterating that colour marks can only be registered exceptionally, emphasises that the key point must be the assessment of the distinctive character determined in relation to the goods/services claimed and the consumers concerned

An important ruling by the Court of Rome that opens the way for an interesting debate regarding the applicability of certain judicial measures to products from the blockchain world

The Board of Appeal of the EUIPO ruled on an interesting case concerning the pre-disclosure of EU designs.

Although iconic, for the EUIPO the shape of Dior's “Saddle Bag” does not deviate sufficiently from the industry standard to have original distinctiveness

The Authority for the first time addressed the practice of serial cease-and-desist letters in the matter of online IP infringements, drawing an ideal line.

The Milan Court of Appeals delimits the relationship between the protection of simple photographs and photographic works and the right to report.

The EU General Court clarified that in relation to marks consisting of signs that are used as trade slogans, the registration is not precluded by reason of such use as long as those marks are suitable for assuring consumers of the origin of the goods or services they designate.

According to the recent EUIPO Observatory study, 93% of SMEs with registered IP assets had a positive impact on their business.