意大利专利商标局（UIBM）隶属于经济发展部，肩负打击侵权假冒及保护知识产权两项主要职责。
UIBM在保护知识产权方面的主要工作包括：授予专利权、商标权及外观设计权，提供相关的申请和管理服务；为获取及利用知识产权提供一揽子财政救济措施；提高意大利企业、大学及研究机构的知识产权保护意识；参与欧盟和国际上旨在促进和推广知识产权应用的项目和举措。
意大利专利分发明、实用新型、外观设计三类，其中实用新型通常被成为小发明。本期主要介绍意大利发明专利的申请以及相关事宜。
意大利根据巴黎公约承认12个月的国际优先权。
在意大利获得有效专利的方式有三个：第一，通过专利PCT国际申请或者直接向欧洲专利局（EPO）申请欧洲专利，在意大利生效；第二，通过专利PCT国际申请；第三直接向UIBM申请获得意大利专利。
直接向UIBM申请授予专利的程序
1．提交申请并缴纳费用
申请文件包括申请书、发明或实用新型的名称、摘要、说明书、权利要求书、附图（如有）、税务局的缴税证明、优先权文件（如有）等。
一次申请只能针对一项发明或实用新型，同时申请多项专利的，可将其他项发明或实用新型另行提交申请，好处是可以享有最早申请的申请日为优先权日。
申请人可以将一项发明同时申请发明专利和实用新型专利，由UIBM确定最终授予哪种专利。发明专利申请和实用新型专利申请可以相互转换。
2．新颖性检索
从2008年起，根据UIBM与EPO签署的协议，所有未要求优先权（意大利专利申请为首次申请）的发明专利申请将获得一份由EPO制作的检索报告和可专利性报告。
申请人可据此对其专利申请文件进行修改并向UIBM作出答复。
3．公开
专利申请提交90天后，申请人可以申请将专利申请公开，申请人未提出申请的，申请将在申请日（包括优先权日）起18个月后公开。
4．审查
专利申请公布后，基于EPO的检索结果以及申请人的答复意见，UIBM对进行新颖性检索的发明作出是否授予发明专利的决定。
如果发明专利申请要求了外国优先权，则UIBM在进行初步审查后就作出是否授权的决定；如果是实用新型专利申请，则UIBM也会在进行初步审查后就作出是否授权的决定。
不服UIBM驳回决定的，上诉至UIBM复审委员会（Commissione dei Ricorsi）。不服该委员会的决定，还可以上诉至意大利最高上诉法院（Corte di Cassazione）。
5．授权
UIBM决定授权的，将发给申请人授权证书。授权发明专利有效期为20年，从专利申请日或优先权日起算，但应当按时缴纳专利维持费。
专利申请自公开之日起有效，如果申请人想要其专利申请对某人生效，则其可以将专利申请的事实告知该人，这样专利申请将从通知该人起对该人生效。
意大利法律规定，专利必须在授权之日起3年内实施，而且实施推迟不得超过连续3年。至少一项实施行为必须在意大利境内发生。否则，UIBM可能发布强制许可，甚至撤销专利授权。
Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi(UIBM), which is part of the Ministry of Economic Development, has two main responsibilities: the fight against counterfeiting and the protection of intellectual property rights.
The UIBM's main activities in the field of intellectual property protection include: the granting of patents, trademarks and designs, as well as the provision of related filing and administrative services; the provision of financial remedies for the acquisition and exploitation of intellectual property rights; the raising of awareness of intellectual property rights protection among Italian companies, universities and research institutes; and the participation in European Union and international projects and initiatives aimed at facilitating the application of intellectual property rights and at promoting their use.
Italian patents are divided into three categories: inventions, utility models and designs, of which utility models are often referred to as minor inventions. This issue focuses on the filing of Italian invention patents and related matters.
Italy recognises a 12-month international priority under the Paris Convention.
There are three ways to obtain a valid patent in Italy: firstly, through an international application for a patent PCT or through a direct application to the European Patent Office (EPO) for a European patent valid in Italy; secondly, through an international application for a patent PCT; and thirdly, through a direct application to the UIBM for the grant of an Italian patent.
Procedure for granting a patent by direct application to the UIBM
1. Filing of the application and payment of the fee
The application documents include the application form, the name of the invention or utility model, the abstract, the specification, the claims, the accompanying drawings (if any), the tax payment certificate from the tax office, the priority document (if any), etc. The application can only be filed for one invention or utility model at a time.
An application can only be filed for one invention or utility model, and if multiple patents are applied for at the same time, other inventions or utility models can be filed separately, with the advantage of enjoying the priority date of the earliest filed application.
An applicant may apply for both invention and utility model patents for an invention, and UIBM will determine which patent will be granted. The invention patent application and the utility model patent application are interchangeable.
2. Novelty Search
Since 2008, according to the agreement signed between the UIBM and the EPO, all patent applications for inventions that do not claim priority (Italian patent applications are first filed) will be provided with a search report and a patentability report produced by the EPO.
Accordingly, the applicant may amend his/her patent application documents and respond to UIBM.
3. Publication
Ninety days after the filing of the patent application, the applicant may apply for the patent application to be made public. If the applicant fails to do so, the application will be made public 18 months after the filing date (including the priority date).
4. Examination
After the publication of the patent application, based on the results of the EPO's search and the applicant's response, the UIBM makes a decision on whether to grant a patent for an invention for which a novelty search was conducted.
If the patent application for invention claims foreign priority, UIBM makes a decision on whether to grant or not to grant the patent after preliminary examination; if it is a utility model patent application, UIBM also makes a decision on whether to grant or not to grant the patent after preliminary examination.
An appeal against the UIBM's decision of refusal goes to the UIBM Board of Review (Commissione dei Ricorsi). The decision of the Commission can also be appealed to the Italian Court of Cassation (Corte di Cassazione).
5. Authorisation
If the UIBM decides to grant the patent, it will issue a certificate of authorisation to the applicant. An authorised patent for an invention is valid for 20 years from the date of filing of the patent application or from the date of priority, provided that the patent maintenance fee is paid on time.
A patent application is valid from the date of its disclosure. If the applicant wants his patent application to be effective against a person, he may inform that person of the fact of the patent application, so that the patent application will be effective against that person from the time of the notification.
Italian law provides that a patent must be enforced within three years from the date of grant and that enforcement may not be delayed for more than three consecutive years. At least one act of enforcement must take place in Italy. Otherwise, UIBM may issue a compulsory licence or even revoke the patent grant.
斐尔德知识产权成立于2013年，专注于为全球客户提供商标、专利、著作权等知识产权法律服务，为客户商标保护、专利申请、著作权实施等提供全面的法律咨询以及商业布局，让知识产权保护更有价值。
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策划 · 制作
栏目策划：斐尔德
内容来源：中国保护知识产权网、意大利知识产权局官网等综合网站
资料搜集：刘亚东
排版：丁田懿
审校：世庙枕顶
封面图和内文图制作：斐尔德团队
