Case Studies Archive - Page 2 of 7

I should be importing a product in Italy bearing a famous Italian trademark. Since the manufacturing company of the mark is in italy, do I risk a lawsuit from it or is it legitimate my selling these products?

The trademark’s owner has the sole right to sell products indicated with a certain mark in the country where he has got the exclusivity. Therefore, if it is known that in Italy the right to a certain mark is of competence to a certain firm, only this latter can sell the specific products. However, there […]

I have made a calendar wholly recapturing the structure of a very original american calendar, but changing the graphic of the numbers and inserting different photos. Should I be relaxed about it or I risk a request for damage compensation.

The calendars are considered protected by the law on copyright, like the catalogues, even though they are not expressly included in the list of protected works, list not considered wholly unconditional. Not only the contents of the calendar is protected, meaning the photographs and the particular graphic, but also the structure as a whole if […]

Can I use, on the cover of a book, the pictures of a famous painting or must I ask the authorisation of someone?

The author of a work of art, including a painting, can claim copyright on it, therefore, to be able to use it, you need to first ask his authorisation. This must be clearly requested and, almost always, it is granted upon a payment to be given directly to the author. The above said right lasts […]

A friend and I achieved a patent and now we are about to form a company for its exploitation. Is it better to keep the patent in our name or should we transfer it to the firm? And in this second case what should we do?

The choice of the transferral or not of the patent depends mainly on the financial and commercial evaluation rather than the juridical one, but, usually, who forms a company to exploit a patent, must at least be able to use it in some way, otherwise there is no point. To allow the company to be […]

Having to use on the internet a musical piece as a background, can I freely do it or do I have to ask the SIAE authorisation? And if yes, is the authorisation necessary even though I will only use a few seconds of it?

The use of a musical piece from Internet, as from any other place, is not possible without first having gotten the authorisation of those claiming their rights. Really the SIAE is the only body where one can turn to as the situation could become very complex according to the type of song one wants to […]

I am an amateur photographer and I would like to make a site where to put my work after scanning them. How can I prevent others from downloading and using them without paying me or asking my authorisation?

There are some technical expedients making downloading photographs from Internet difficult, or at least inconvenient. Amongst these systems there are electronic marks, with which a kind of electronic watermark is affixed to the photos so to make them easily traceable every time someone uses them illicitly. However, even without resorting to these measures, it deserves […]

I have a trademark registered and I have just found out that a firm is using as an internet address my trademark. Can I stop him and, above all, can I get the domain in my favour?

The ownership of a registered trademark, in effect, gives the possibility to prevent others using that same name in the correspondence and in any other type of commercial use, including the use on Internet. With reference to this there are many sentences confirming this statement and only three are of different opinion, therefore, by legally […]

I have a web site and lately many people are registering similar domains to exploiting the reputation. Should one of them register my domain as a trademark, do I risk losing it? And on the contrary, if I have it registered as a trademark, could I protect myself against them?

By now almost constantly the judges decide the cases regarding the domain names by applying, in an analogue way, the trademarks regulation and considering them distinctive marks even though, in most cases, untypical. Considering this, the fear related to the risks we might incur or the disadvantages we could have, registering the domain as a […]

I am the owner of a trademark and only recently I have found out that someone has registered a domain name the same as my trademark. How is this possible and how can I take it back?

The domain names ending with “.it” (i.e. Ferrari.it) get assigned by the Italian Register without checking-up for any pre-existing marks similar or identical to the requested name. Therefore it is not at all “strange” that there is a domain name identical to a registered trademark, in fact these situations often arise. To evaluate whether there […]

I have an italian internet site with an american address, such as “myname.com”. Is it possible registering it as a trademark in the united states? Is the trademark considered as being used even if it is just for the internet?

Surely the used name to distinguish an Internet site can validly be registered as a trademark. As the site is all in Italian, the advisable thing to do is to proceed with the trademark registration in Italy, because the trademark rights are important, not due to the place where the domain was acquired, but rather […]