TRADEMARK AND PATENT LAW

The course is a characterizing course of the Master's Degree Programme in Marketing and Communication.
The purpose of the course is to provide students with the fundamentals for the Knowledge and the understanding of the principles regulating industrial property system at the national level, on the one hand, and the national and international antitrust regulations, on the other hand. Special attention will be paid to trademark law, to patent, industrial design and trade secret laws and to the protection against unfair competition. Notwithstanding the course will primarily focus on the Italian legislation, some references will be made to EU and international laws and regulations.
Case law analysis will be an important part of the course.

1. Knowledge and comprehension skills
1.1 Knowledge of what the industrial property rights are in the modern economy and society.
1.2 Knowledge of the laws relating to all forms of industrial property at a national level.
1.3 Comprehension and analysis of the basic rules and principles relating to industrial property rights.
2. Applied knowledge and comprehension skills
2.1 Ability to understand the role of the industrial property in the legal framework.
2.2 Ability to identify the interconnections among various industrial property rights.
2.3 Ability to understand the importance of an effective regulation of industrial property rights in order to protect the intangible assets that constitute an high proportion of the firm value.
3. Use of independent judgment
3.1 Ability to find, to analyse, and to interpret the national case law dealing with infringement of industrial property rights.
3.2 Ability to propose legal solutions to cases involving industrial property rights and their protection.

Students must know the fundamentals of Private Law.
It is recommended that students know the fundamentals of Business Law.

a) Unfair competition and advertising
b) Distinctive signs
1. Distinctive signs and their function
2. Trademarks (registered and unregistered)
3. An outline of EU trademarks and international trademarks
4. An outline of geographical indications
c) Inventions. Industrial designs. Community Designs
1. Patents. The European Patent e the Unitary Patent
2. Registered designs and models
3. Trade secret law

A. VANZETTI-V. DI CATALDO-M.S. SPOLIDORO, Manuale di diritto industriale, Giuffrè Francis Lefebvre, Milano, last edition (pages to be indicated).
The book could be accompanied by online material for the illustration of new legislative reforms (e.g. PPT presentations).
Italian Civil Code and complementary legislation (updated version).

The exam consists of 21 multiple choice questions and one case study to solve, in line with the examples that will be given in class.
For each correct answer, a candidate gets 1 mark, and a penalty of 0.5 mark is applied for getting an incorrect answer.
The maximum marks a candidate can score for the case study is 11.
Students may also prepare a group assignment to get extra marks.

written

Marks will be awarded as follows for both attending and non-attending students:
A. Marks in the range 18–22 will be awarded if the student demonstrates:
- sufficient knowledge of and understanding of the programme;
- limited ability to collect and/or interpret data, and to formulate independent judgements.
- sufficient communication skills, particularly with regard to the use of specific industrial law terminology.
B. Scores in the range 23–26 will be awarded if the following criteria are met:
- fair knowledge of, and ability to apply, the programme;
- a fair ability to collect and/or interpret data and formulate independent judgements;
- fair communication skills, particularly with regard to the use of specific industrial law terminology.
C. Scores in the range 27–30 will be awarded if:
- good or excellent knowledge of, and ability to apply, the programme;
- good or excellent ability to collect and/or interpret data and formulate independent judgements;
- fully appropriate communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific banking terminology.
D. Honours will be awarded for knowledge and understanding of the programme, excellent judgement, and excellent communication skills.

Frontal lectures.
PowerPoint slides relevant to the course topics uploaded to the moodle e-learning platform.
Case studies used as additional teaching material uploaded to the moodle e-learning platform.
Group assignments to encourage active learning.