On the 16th of April 2020 a recent decree came into force in Italy, setting up a new register of the so-called “Historical Trademarks of National Interest”.

The trademarks registered and maintained in force, or used, continuously for at least 50 years, may be qualified as such upon request made by the concerned party.

Such requests and their compliance with the requirements shall undergo verification by the Italian Patent and Trademark Office within a maximum time limit of 60 days, as far as registered trademarks are concerned, and 180 days in case of non-registered trademarks.

If the request is accepted, the relevant applicant will be entitled to use, for promotional purposes, the following logo: 

The registration in the register is valid for an indefinite term, is not subject to renewal and the owner may apply for cancellation at any time, such cancellation being, on the other hand, subject to the same verification procedure, the automatic acceptance thereof being undecided at present.

The proprietor or licensee of a trademark registered in such newly set-up register intending to close-down the production site of origin, or anyway the main production site, in order to terminate the activity or to relocate the same abroad, with consequent bulk dismissals, is required to provide the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) with detailed information on the project and, on its turn, the MISE shall start the process aimed at identifying the measures to be taken by using the resources made available through the new Fund for the protection of Historical Trademarks of National Interest, the purpose of which is the safeguard employment and the continuation of the activity on the national territory.

The failure to comply with the above information obligations shall cause the imposition of administrative sanctions ranging from € 5,000 to € 50,000.

Small- and medium-sized companies owning or exploiting an historical trademark under a license agreement may eventually take advantage of appropriations under the “Guarantee Fund for Small- and Medium-size Companies” (Fondo di Garanzia per le piccole e medie imprese) for projects aimed at increase the value of their own trademarks; however, the procedures to take advantage thereof have not been defined yet.

We are pleased to be at your disposal for any additional information you may need,

Domenico de Simone               Giovanni Orsoni