Made in Italy: protecting innovation at Exhibitions

Protecting innovation: the context

The role of exhibitions is to create a meeting point between supply and demand for products, and it is the quality of these products, in their ability to meet consumer needs, that determines the value of Italian trade fairs.

From information technology to telecommunications, from chemistry to electronics: Italy has always excelled in creativity and innovation.

However, much of our ingenuity and creativity is now realised by foreign brands or is imitated.

How can we protect the future of Italian innovation to safeguard our future as a trade fair system?

Protecting innovation: the AEFI - UIMB protocol

This collaboration between AEFI and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy is based on the memorandum of understanding signed with the Directorate General for Industrial Property – Italian Patent and Trademark Office (DGPI-UIBM) at the end of 2023.

The Protocol follows the publication in the Official Gazette No. 184 on Tuesday, 8 August, of Law No. 102 of 24 July 2023, on “Amendments to the Industrial Property Code”, as per Legislative Decree No. 30 of 10 February 2005. The main aims of this law are to strengthen the competitiveness of the National System and protect industrial property.

Within the law, two provisions are of particular interest to the trade fair sector, where they are specifically mentioned.

1. The first concerns the temporary protection of designs and models at exhibitions (Art. 2). This provision allows any interested party to request temporary protection, established by decree of the MIMIT, for designs and models displayed at an exhibition, whether official or officially recognised, held in the territory of the State or in a foreign State with reciprocal treatment agreements.
2. The second provision involves the removal of restrictions on the seizure of counterfeit products displayed at exhibitions (Art. 22). This provision repeals paragraph 3 of Article 129 of the Industrial Property Code, now allowing the direct seizure of counterfeit goods on display if an industrial property right is found to be infringed.

This Protocol is articulated through the commitment of the Directorate General for Industrial Property (UIBM) and AEFI to act jointly

• as facilitators of knowledge dissemination and enhancement of industrial property among members
• to promote the knowledge of Italian companies regarding the strategic use and economic exploitation of industrial property,
• to combat counterfeiting both in the domestic market and internationally
• to develop actions to engage public opinion
• and finally, to promote the presence of DGPI-UIBM at trade fairs, both physically and virtually in the future, to inform and support the activities of interested parties.

UIBM’s presence at trade fairs began for AEFI with appearances at Vicenzaoro, Cosmoprof, and Salone del Mobile, based on data available from the Ministry on the extent of counterfeiting in various sectors, and plans are already being made for the second half of the year.

The information campaign conducted so far at communications level began at Firenze Fiera S.p.A, in the prestigious Palazzo degli Affari, designed in 1974 by Pierluigi Spadolini and recently renovated to spread knowledge about the tools and operational methods for protecting industrial property at trade fairs.

Protecting Innovation: the conference

The challenges and opportunities for defending Italian ingenuity were addressed during the AEFI and UIBM Academy conference “Protecting Italy’s Innovations Together”. This discussion particularly focused on exhibitions, which represent the prime venues for making innovations accessible.

“The event - as highlighted by the president of Firenze Fiera S.p.A, Lorenzo Becattini - brings together some of the most significant professionals engaged, on multiple fronts and with various roles and skills, in protecting Italian manufacturing and industrial enterprises against the risks of counterfeiting in the trade fair sector that arise in the global market”: Antonio Lirosi, Director General of DGPI-UIBM, Alfonso Piantedosi (UIBM), Antonella Recchini (UIBM), Saverio Massari (UIBM), Vincenzo Maio (Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato), and Sara Zannelli (INDICAM), Stefano Baracco, head of Patent & Design Asset Management at Piaggio S.p.A., Pietro Bartolini, coordinator of the Industry Commission of the Order of Engineers of the Province of Florence, and Stefano Vatti, vice president of AIPPI Italian Group.

Our primary takeaway from the meeting is:

• The regulatory framework is undergoing significant changes. Notable developments in 2023 include:

- EU Regulation 2023/2411 concerning the protection of geographical indications for artisanal and industrial products

- Law No. 102 of 24 July 2023, amending the Industrial Property Code

- Law No. 206 of 27 December 2023, containing organic provisions for the protection of industrial property

- Proposed EU regulation and directive for the protection of industrial designs

• According to Articles 18 and 34 of the Industrial Property Code, temporary protection of trademarks and designs at trade fairs - Article 118 and 24a - has exhibition priority if filed within 6 months from the date of exhibition.

• Numerous actions and tools are provided by the Directorate General of Industrial Property for training and information dissemination, aimed at fostering a new general culture
• There is a wide range of facilitative measures not only for promotion but also for the protection of rights
• An extensive range of public services is available: the telematic filing portal, a support contact centre, an anti-counterfeiting hotline, a database, and services provided with our Association at trade fairs
• We have seen how the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato operates in the wine and agri-food sector for the identification and protection of each product unit, how traceability models are designed along the entire production chain, and what logical security elements with unique coding for each product are ?
• We have discovered and exchanged the notion that innovation lies at the heart of entrepreneurial endeavours and can be safeguarded through a cohesive corporate strategy integrating legal safeguards with marketing tactics and corporate communication
• It has emerged that defending innovation requires a change in cultural mindset, a process that is difficult in practice both nationally and even more so internationally.

Conclusions

The future of Made in Italy and its attractiveness to markets and sectors is tied to our country’s ability to:

• Keep the innovation quotient of businesses high, maintain product quality, and foster a culture of quality among consumers

• Continue developing concrete strategies to protect innovators and companies, ensuring that our country’s intellectual property remains a driving force for progress and prosperity

These are crucial themes for our sector, which we will undoubtedly delve into further in future meetings, starting with Global Exhibitions Day scheduled in Rome on June 5, 2024.