PATENTS AND TRADEMARKS

(1) Anyone, being able to know the existence of the title of industrial property, forges or alters trademarks (2) or distinctive signs, national or foreign, of industrial products, or anyone, without having participated in the forgery or alteration, makes use of such forged or altered trademarks or signs, shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to three years and with a fine from EUR 2,500 to EUR 25,000.

Anyone who forges or alters national or foreign patents, designs or industrial models (3), or, without having participated in the forgery or alteration, makes use of such forged or altered patents, designs or models (4), is subject to imprisonment from one to four years and a fine from EUR 3,500 to EUR 35,000.

The crimes provided for in the first and second paragraphs are punishable provided that the rules of domestic laws, community regulations, and international conventions on the protection of intellectual or industrial property have been observed.

NOTES

(1) This article has been replaced by art. 15, paragraph 1, letter a), of the law of July 23, 2009, n. 99.

(2) Trademarks are distinctive signs of the origin of products from a particular company.

(3) Patents are certificates granting exclusive rights for the exploitation of a work of ingenuity, while designs or models are patents relating to such models or designs.

(4) Both conducts do not require a servile imitation but the ability to deceive the consumer.