On 2 May 2023, the Italian Senate passed the bill
(“Bill”) amending the Italian Industrial
Property Code (“Code”). The Bill consists of 32
articles and sets forth relevant amendments to the previous version
of the Code, including new regulations of the lawfulness of the
registration of trademarks, the temporal protection of designs or
models and administrative procedures. Among other things, by
amending Article 65 of the Code, the Bill introduces a new
discipline with respect to inventions by researchers in
universities, public research institutions and
scientifically-oriented institutions for hospitalisation and care
(“Institutions”), providing that the Institutions shall
be the sole owners of the rights resulting from the patentable
inventions. The proposed amendment to Article 59 of the Code
provides that in the case of cumulative protections of an Italian
patent and a European patent, the effects of the Italian patent
shall not cease. The Bill will now have to be
