43. to 45. [Repealed.]
44
45
- Where the Ministry concerned, after submission of a request for adjournment, does not intend to proceed with expropriation, it shall communicate such fact to the Central Patent Office. The Office shall notify the communication it has received to the person concerned. Following such communication, the requirement of secrecy shall end and the normal patent granting procedure shall be resumed.
- 47. [Repealed.]
- In the case of exhibitions to be held on the territory of the State, the Ministry of Defense may have carried out, by its officials and officers, a detailed examination of the models or products concerned which have been submitted for the purposes of the exhibition and which may be held to be in the interests of national defense and it may further require information and request explanations with respect to such models and products.
- The organizers of exhibitions must furnish to the abovementioned officials and officers full lists of models that are to be exhibited and the products involved which are not protected by patents. The officials and officers may prohibit the organizer from exhibiting those they consider to be in the interests of national defense.
- The prohibition contained in the final paragraph of Section 10 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall be directly communicated to the executive committee of the exhibition by the Ministry imposing the prohibition. The executive committee must keep the models or products concerned by the prohibition under the seal of secrecy as regards their nature and shall notify the prohibition to the persons concerned by registered letter, warning them of the requirement of secrecy.
Where the prohibition referred to in the preceding paragraph is notified after the models or products have been exhibited, they must be withdrawn, subject to the right of the Ministry of Defense to expropriate them, but without imposing secrecy.
[Repealed.]
Chapter II
Expropriation
- Where the Ministry concerned intends to issue an expropriation order in respect of the model or of the right to use the model laid down in Section 61 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, it shall communicate such decision to the patent applicants by registered letter and also to the Central Patent Office.
- The expropriating Ministry shall transmit a copy of the expropriation order for the model or the right to use the model to the Central Patent Office and shall notify it to the persons concerned in the statutory form.
Once notification has been made, the expropriated rights shall pass to the expropriating administration which will thus dispose, without other formality, of the faculty to utilize the model, and the obligation, where appropriate, to pay the fee instalment for the second twoyear period required to maintain the patent.
Except where publication of the expropriation and utilization orders, and any subsequent amendments or revocations thereof, could cause prejudice, the Office shall publish a relevant announcement in the Bulletin and shall enter a note in the Patent Register or, where the patent has not yet been granted, in the Register of Applications.
- The expropriation order for the right to use the model in accordance with the second paragraph of Section 60 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, must contain a statement of the duration of use, which may in all cases be extended within the limit of the four years of validity of the patent.
- Where publication is not prejudicial and expropriation is limited to the right to use the model, the patent shall be granted and the model shall be published under the ordinary procedure.
- In the event of disagreement as to fixation of the indemnity due for expropriation of the patent for the model in the interest of national military defense, the expropriated person may request, within 180 days following notification of the expropriation order, arbitration as provided for in Section 63 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, by an act notified to the expropriation administration through a bailiff.
- Where no agreement is reached, within a period of 30 days following notification under the preceding paragraph, as regards appointment of the single arbitrator, the applicant shall notify, in the same form, the name of his own arbitrator. Within the 30 days that follow, the administration shall likewise notify the name of the arbitrator of its choice. In the event of failure to agree on the appointment of the third arbitrator within the 30 days following the latter notification, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts shall make such appointment at the request of the earliest petitioner.
- The single arbitrator or the arbitration board shall decide on the place of arbitration at which the parties must have an address for service and shall lay down the rules of procedure and operation of arbitration in compliance with the Code of Civil Procedure. The means of examination shall be adopted by ordinance, even where the parties disagree, and they may be ordered ex officio. In the case of an arbitration board, implementation of the means of examination may also be delegated to one of the members of the board, who shall lay down the terms.
- The provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to compromises shall apply to the arbitration procedure where not otherwise provided for in Sections 63 et seq. of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, or in this Regulation.
- The costs of arbitration, the fees due to the arbitrators and the cost and fees of the defense shall be determined in the decision, which shall also determine responsibility and sharing in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure.
The costs shall be borne by the expropriated person in all cases where the compensation laid down by arbitration is equal to or less than the amount initially proposed by the administration.
Title V
Recording of Acts
57. The request for recording an act or a decision in respect of an industrial model patent, corresponding to an act or decision in respect of patents for inventions referred to in Section 66 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall be drawn up in duplicate and shall satisfy the conditions laid down by the provisions on stamp duty.
The request shall contain:
- (1)
- the surname, forename and domicile of the applicant and, where applicable, the representative;
- (2)
- the surname and forename of the owner of the patent and the number and date of the patent;
- (3)
- the date and nature of the title to be recorded and, in case of a public act, the name of the notary who has drawn up the act;
(4) a statement of the subject matter of the act to be recorded.
[Repealed.]
58. The request for recording referred to in the preceding Section shall be accompanied by: (1) the legal title to be recorded, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Registration;
- (2)
- the order confirming payment of the prescribed fee, in accordance with Section 35, above. Where the title referred to in subparagraph (1) is drawn up in a language other than Italian, it shall be accompanied by a translation into the Italian language, certified and checked by the Italian authorities.
Where a representative has been appointed, the powers of attorney or the letter of appointment in due form shall be attached.
59. Entries in the Patent Register shall contain:
(1) the date of submission of the request, which is to be that of the recording;
(2) the surname, forename and domicile of the successor in title or the name and registered offices in the case of a company or a legal person, together with the surname, forename and domicile of the representative, where applicable;
(3) the nature of the rights to which the recording refers.
- The acts and decisions referred to in Section 66 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, concerning patents applied for but not yet granted shall be entered in the Register of Applications, whereby the recording shall be deemed to have been made in the Patent Register immediately following grant of the patent.
- The Central Patent Office shall return to the requester one copy of his request accompanied by a statement that the recording has been made.
- The acts and decisions submitted for recording shall be kept by the Office.
- Decisions concerning the nullity and forfeiture of patents addressed to the Central Patent Office in accordance with the last paragraph of Section 80 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall be recorded in the Patent Register and the recording shall be notified in the Bulletin.
- Requests for cancellation of recordings shall be submitted in the same form and subject to the same conditions as those for requests for recording.
- Cancellation shall be effected by a note in the margin.
- Where it is necessary, for the recording of guarantee rights, to convert the amount of the credit into national currency, conversion shall be made on the basis of the exchange rate on the day on which the guarantee was afforded.
Title VI
Implementation Procedure
65. Seizure of an industrial model patent shall be effected by act notified to the debtor by a bailiff.
The act shall contain:
- (1)
- the statement of seizure of the patent, following notice of the elements permitting its identification, as resulting from the Patent Register;
- (2)
- the date of the act and its communication in enforceable form;
- (3)
- the amount involved in the enforcement;
- (4)
- the surname, forename and domicile or place of residence of the creditor and of the debtor;
- (5)
- the surname and forename of the bailiff. As from the date of notification, the debtor shall assume the commitments deriving from judicial seizure of the patent, including those in respect of any proceeds.
Proceeds maturing after the date of notification and deriving from use of the patent shall be added to the proceeds of sale for the purposes of subsequent sharing.
66. Notification of the act of seizure shall be governed by the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure in respect of the serving of summons.
Where the person to whom the act of seizure must be notified has neither domicile nor residence within the country and has no address for service therein, the notification shall be addressed to the Central Patent Office.
In such case, a copy of the act shall be posted on the notice board at the Office and published in the Bulletin.
- The act of seizure of the patent shall be recorded within a period of eight days as from notification; failing that, seizure shall be null and void. Where the act of seizure of the patent has been recorded and until the seizure itself takes effect, subsequently recorded seizures that have been notified to the preceding creditor shall imply attachment of the selling price.
- The sale and adjudication of seized patents shall be governed by the corresponding provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, where applicable, subject to the special provisions of this Regulation.
69. A patent may only be sold after expiry of a minimum of 30 days after seizure.
A period of 20 days must elapse between the date of the order fixing the day of sale and that of the sale itself.
The magistrate [pretore] shall establish the special forms he deems appropriate in each case, taking also measures to have a notification of the sale published, where necessary by derogation from the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Where necessary, the magistrate may order that the notification be posted on the premises of the chambers of commerce and in those of the Central Patent Office and published in the Patent Bulletin.
- The record of the adjudication shall contain the main information concerning the patent as resulting from the Patent Register.
- The creditor requesting enforcement of an industrial model patent must notify the creditors in possession of guarantee rights, recorded in accordance with Section 66 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, of the act of seizure and of the order fixing the date of the sale at least 10 days before the sale.
These latter creditors shall file with the registry of the competent judicial instance in accordance with Section 71 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, their requests to participate accompanied by the justifying documents within 15 days prior to the sale.
Any person with an interest therein may examine the applications and the documents.
72. On expiry of the term of 15 days laid down in the second paragraph of the preceding Section, the magistrate, at the request of one of the parties, shall lay down the date of the hearing at which he will propose the order and distribution of the proceeds of sale and possible revenue.
During the hearing, the magistrate shall ensure that the provisions of the preceding Section have been complied with or, in the event of disagreement between the parties concerning the distribution of the proceeds and revenue, shall draw up the order of creditors and the distribution of the proceeds of sale and the revenue in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure concerning enforcement in respect of movable property; where he is not competent in respect of the value, he shall refer the parties to a hearing before a civil court.
Possible or conditional interest shall be claimable in accordance with the Civil Code.
73. The person to whom the patent is adjudicated shall have the right to obtain cancellation of the recordings of guarantee rights in the patent by filing with the Central Patent Office a copy of the record of adjudication and an attestation by the registrar of payment of the price of adjudication, in accordance with the provisions of Section 63 on cancellation of recordings.
74. Industrial model patents may be the subject of seizure even during the grant procedure.
The provisions of the preceding Sections relating to enforcement, together with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to seizure, shall apply to the seizure proceedings where they are not contrary to the provisions of the abovementioned Sections.
75. Litigation in respect of enforcement and seizure of patents shall be heard by the State judicial authority competent by virtue of Section 75 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939.
Title VII Appeals and Procedure
- The Board of Appeals referred to in Section 71 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall be assisted by a secretariat whose members shall be appointed by the decree setting up the Board or by separate decree.
- The members of that secretariat shall be chosen from among officials of Group A, not above the seventh grade nor below the ninth grade, in the Central Patent Office.
- Appeals in respect of industrial model patents, in the cases that correspond to those laid down in Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, in respect of patents for inventions, shall be submitted to the offices referred to in Section 2 or directly by registered mail to the secretariat of the Board of Appeals at the Central Patent Office.
- The original of the act filing the appeal shall be accompanied by three copies on unstamped paper, subject, however, to the secretariat of the Board having the faculty to request the parties for a larger number of copies.
- The Chairman of the Board shall appoint a rapporteur for each appeal and, where matters of a technical nature are concerned, shall also appoint one or more deputy rapporteurs chosen from among the technical members.
| 79. |
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to |
in |
the |
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in |
| Section 39 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, |
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opposing |
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shall |
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The Chairman, or the rapporteur appointed by him, shall fix the time limit, of 90 days at most, for submission of the memoranda and replies by the opposing parties and for filing of the relevant documents.
The provisions of this Section and of the preceding Sections shall apply to the presentation and transmission of those documents.
- On expiry of the time limit referred to in the preceding Section, the Board shall decide the means of examination it deems appropriate and shall establish the conditions.
- During examination, the Chairman or the rapporteur appointed by him may hear the parties to obtain any possible explanations.
- Where means of examination are not necessary or in all cases where examination has been completed, the Chairman shall fix the date for the appeal proceedings before the Board.
- The Board shall be competent when the absolute majority of its members having a deliberating vote are present.
- The Director of the Central Patent Office or an official of the Office appointed by the Director to represent him shall participate in the sittings and shall provide the Board with all information and documents that may be necessary.
- An appellant who so requests in good time, at the latest three days prior to examination of his appeal, shall have the right to put his arguments orally, subject to being present at the date and time fixed for the appeal proceedings concerning him, which will be communicated in good time by the secretariat of the Board.
The appellant may be assisted by a lawyer and by a technical expert.
84. After the opening of the sitting, the rapporteur shall present his report on the appeal.
The parties or their representatives shall then set out their arguments and if the members of the Board so request, the Director of the Office or an official of the Office appointed by the Director to represent him shall supply any requested information and documents.
85. Any interested person may submit to the Board an explanatory memorandum prior to closure of the appeal proceedings.
New elements which may influence the decision arising during the proceedings shall be communicated to the parties.
86. The Board may at any time decide on means of examination as it deems appropriate.
The Board may further, in each case, order adjournment of the decision or even of the examination to a subsequent sitting.
87. The Board shall take its decision once the appellant has retired. The rapporteur, or another member of the Board, shall draw up the decision.
The decision shall be notified by registered letter addressed by the secretariat of the Board to the party concerned or to his representative, where applicable, and its enacting terms shall be published in the Patent Bulletin, subject to the faculty of the Board to order full publication in the Bulletin where the decision concerns a matter of principle and publication cannot be prejudicial.
The appellant may at any time obtain a copy of the decision at his own cost by paying the stamp duty and the clerical expenses.
88. The Minister for Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts may submit for examination by the Board, for its opinion, any matter of principle concerning patents for models and any other matter falling in that field.
The Chairman of the Board may also add to the Board technical experts in addition to those referred to in Section 71 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939.
Title VIII
Consultation and Publications
- The Register of Industrial Model Patents, corresponding to the Register of Patents for Inventions referred to in Section 37 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, may be consulted by the public with the authorization of the Director of the Central Patent Office on a request drawn up on stamped paper and on payment to the Office of the consultation fees.
- The public may also consult the Register of Applications on the same conditions and after payment of the abovementioned fees.
- Where the provisions of the second paragraph of Section 10 of Royal Decree No. 1411 of August 29, 1940, as amended, have been complied with, the Office shall hold for free consultation by the public a copy of the plates containing the graphic reproduction of the models or products or samples of the products and the description, where applicable, accompanying the patent application or the patent.
- The public may also consult, under the same conditions, the plates and any description relating to patents attached to the applications in which the priority of earlier deposits is claimed.
- The Director of the Office may authorize extracts of copies of applications, of plates containing the graphic reproduction of the models or products or samples of the products together with possible descriptions and other documents available to the public being supplied to any person so requesting on stamped paper, subject to any precautions he may deem necessary to avoid any damage or deterioration of the copy made available to the public.
Where copies are to be certified as in conformity with the copy made available to the public, the conditions relating to stamp duty must be fulfilled.
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts may decide, however, that the Central Patent Office alone shall be responsible for the copy or the reproduction, including photographic reproduction, of the abovementioned acts and documents, against prior payment of clerical expenses.
- The copies and extracts from the Patent Register and the certificates relating to extracts from other registers and duplicates of the originals of patents shall be drawn up exclusively by the Central Patent Office on a request drawn up on stamped paper and stating the number of the patent of which a copy or extract is requested, and on prior payment to the Office of the clerical expenses in addition to the fee set out in Table A annexed to Royal Decree No. 1411 of August 25, 1940.
- The provisions of the Law on Stamps shall apply to such copies and extracts and to patent certificates and duplicates.
- The certificate attesting to the authenticity of the copies corresponding to those referred to in Section 96 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall be subject, in addition to the fee set out in Table A annexed to Royal Decree No. 1411 of August 25, 1940, to payment of clerical fees to the Office in respect of each sheet of stamped paper and each plate containing the graphic reproduction of the models or products or samples of products.
- The amount of the fees laid down by these regulations shall be fixed by order of the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts in agreement with the Minister for Finance.
- The granted patents, classified according to the classes of models, and the recordings made shall be published at least once a month in the Bulletin of Patents for Inventions, Models and Marks.
The amount of the fees for copying and photographic reproduction work carried out by the Central Patent Office shall be laid down in the same way.
This publication shall comprise the basic information contained, respectively, in the patents and in the requests for recordings.
The Bulletin may also contain either the analytical indexes of models protected by patent or the alphabetical indexes of owners of granted patents; the schedules of plates may also be published therein.
96. The issues of the Bulletin of Patents for Inventions, Models and Marks shall be sent free of charge to the chambers of commerce or solely to those to which they may be particularly useful, and to other bodies entered on the list drawn up by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts.
They shall also be sent, as an exchange, to the patent offices of other States.
Title IX
Provisions Concerning the Italian
Overseas Territories
97. to 101. [Repealed.]
98
99
100
101
Title X
General and Miscellaneous
Chapter I
General Provisions
102. to 104. [Repealed.]
103
104
- For the purposes of Section 59, item (2), of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, concerning nullity of patents due to the patent not disclosing the invention in an adequate manner, the information required by the person skilled in the art to enable him to implement the model must derive in a concordant manner from the title, the plates containing the graphic reproduction of the model or products or sample of the products referred to in Section 4, item (1), above, and the description, where applicable, taken as a whole.
- Where two patent applications are filed simultaneously for the same subject matter, one for an invention and the other for a utility model, in accordance with Section 4 of Royal Decree No. 1411 of August 25, 1940, and explicit mention is also made, in each application, of the simultaneous filing of the other application, the applicant may furnish the documents in accordance with the prescribed conditions for the application for a patent for invention only.
- In the case referred to in the preceding Section, where the application accepted is that for a utility model, the applicant shall be entitled to refund of the excess fees paid, whereby the excess filing fees paid cannot be taken into consideration or refunded.
The two applications must be filed with the same office on the same day.
Chapter II
Miscellaneous
108. The Minister for Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts may establish by order the models on which the applications and other acts relating to industrial model patents shall be drawn up.
Where an application or other act does not conform to the models referred to in the preceding paragraph, the parties concerned shall be required to furnish additional information or explanations as required in relation to such applications or acts.
109. [Repealed.]
110. Until such time as new provisions be adopted, the provisions of Royal Decree No. 2730 of October 23, 1884, and of the Ministerial Decree of May 8, 1914, on the operation of the Central Patent Office in its relations with the public, shall be applicable where they are not contrary to Royal Decree No. 1411 of August 25, 1940, Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, or to these Regulations.
Pending adoption of the Ministerial Decree referred to in Section 94, the provisions currently in force as regards clerical costs and the fees for copying and photographic reproduction work shall continue to apply.
111. [Obsolete.]