06/10/2021

🟩⬜🟥 Protection of food creations in Italy

 



 

Introduction

The Italian IP framework makes a number of legal tools available in the context of food, including:

  • patents for inventions of production methods and innovative food and food-related products;
  • designs and models for the shape and presentation of food products; and
  • copyright for layout and food lighting when a particular form of layout or lighting has creative value.

The choice of appropriate protection must be made on a case-by-case basis. Often, the possibility of using several legal frameworks cumulatively should also be considered, each for the particular kind of protection it can offer.

Ingredients and recipes

With regard to ingredients – and, in particular, additives – both patents and (often preferably) trade secrets are widely used in Italy and require great care to avoid loss of rights. Recipes can also be protected through confidentiality, since, if they are released, copyright protection is limited to their expression, but does not cover the idea.

Presentation and serving

When it is not possible to make use of designs and models (or shape trademarks) for the layout and presentation of products with an expressive value, it is always necessary to assess whether they can be ascribed to works protected by copyright (since article 2 of the Copyright Law contains a non-exhaustive, but only exemplifying, list), which can be protected only in the presence of creativity. If the means to achieve presentation and serving (and also lighting) of food are unique and capable of solving a technical problem in a non-trivial way, or at least can provide a particular efficacy or easiness of application or use to already-existing systems, patent protection may be used:

  • for an innovative solution not within the reach of an expert in the field – as an invention, with a duration of 20 years; and
  • for a particularly efficient shape – as a utility model, with a duration of 10 years.

Manufacturing

Even more important – especially in Italy – is the protection of manufacturing (and often also commercial) know-how. This must be taken care of not only in contentious contexts, but primarily in advance thereof. Strategic advice should be sought to establish the most appropriate protection choices, including through the registration of designs, models and trademarks, and for labelling and communication.

To this purpose, particular consideration should be given to the different parties involved in a contract – not only concerning the exploitation of the creations, but also in defining the respective rights of the different subjects who have contributed to them, often in different but complementary roles. This helps to avoid conflicts that could undermine the effective protection of their exploitation by unauthorised third parties.

Sources of infringement

Infringement may affect all rights that can be taken into account in the food sector, including:

  • trademarks, protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications, including those relating to the shape of products and their packaging (also in the form of the increasingly frequent lookalike product);
  • designs, models and patents; and
  • forms of fraud and outright deception, which are becoming increasingly widespread on social media.

In fact, even for food creations, the rise of social media represents both opportunities and threats, which must be managed in the best possible way. On the one hand, they allow easier access to widespread recognition and diffusion, even for less structured subjects or those with fewer resources. On the other hand, however, they multiply the opportunities for copying and even parasitically exploiting the creations of others. Careful monitoring and cost-benefit assessments must be carried out in order to choose the most appropriate means of defending, contracting and exploiting assets in this field, which also requires a creative approach on the part of lawyers.




For further information on this topic please contact Cesare Galli at IP Law Galli by telephone (+39 02 5412 3094) or email (galli.mi@iplawgalli.it). The IP Law Galli website can be accessed at www.iplawgalli.it.




05/10/2021

V MEDITERRANEAN FORUM INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS (Online) - 8th October 2021: THE CHALLENGE OF THE FIGHT AGAINST FOOD WASTE AND AGRIFOOD CHAIN

 Universidad de Valladolid. España 

Costs and results of the new sustainability policies 

ESPAÑA 2050


Dirección: Esther Muñiz Espada. Universidad de Valladolid. España: mariaesther.muniz@uva.es

Coordinadora: Begoña González Acebes. Universidad de Valladolid. España.


 

 

 

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Roman Budzinowski, Poznan University, Poland.

Roland Norer, Luzern University, Swissland.

Luigi Russo, Ferrara University, Italy.

José Martinez, Göttingen University, Germany.

Alessandra Di Lauro, Pisa University, Italy.

 

Isabelle Pingel, Sorbonne University, Paris I, France


8th October 2021

10.00 hs. Opening session

Antonio Largo Cabrerizo, Excmo. y Magfco. Sr. Rector de la Universidad de Valladolid.

Paloma García Galán, Secretaria General Técnica del Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación.

José Miguel Herrero Velasco, Director General de Industria Alimentaria, Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación.

Geoff Whittaker, President of European Council for Rural Law.

Rocio Perteguer Prieto, Directora de medio ambiente, consumidores y usuarios del Colegio de Registradores.

 

10.30 hs. First session. European Legal scheme on food waste and agrifood chain. Perspectives from different European Mediterranean countries.

Chairperson: Maria Grazia Alabrese, Pisa University.

España. Esther Muñiz, Valladolid University.

Francia. Luc Bodiguel, Research at CNRS. Nante.

Italia. Irene Canfora, Bari University – Luigi Russo, Ferrara University.

Portugal. Tiago Picão de Abreu, Lisboa.

 

12.00 hs. Second Session. Perspectives from others european countries.

Chairperson: Ludivine Petetin, Cardiff University.

José Martinez, Göttingen University. State failures in food policy - food wastage in Germany.

Aneta Suchon, Adam Mickiewicza University. Sustainable agriculture in the European Green Deal - selected legal issues.

Monika Król, Lodzki University. Climate impact on food security in context of food waste.

Paweł Wojciechowski, Warsaw University. The food waste and the date of minimum durability – possible legal solution.

Anna Kapała, Wrocław University. Legal aspects of local food systems.

Izabela Lipińska, Poznan University. Waste in the food supply chain - selected legal issues.

Łobos Kotowska, Katowice University. The cultivation contract as an instrument of agricultural law preventing food overproduction.

Łukasz Sokolowski, Adam Mickiewicza University. Some critical comments on the new polish Act on Counteracting Food Waste.

Katarzyna Leśkiewicz, Adam Mickiewicza University. Sanctions for wasting food in the light of Polish regulations - selected aspects.

Krzysztof Różański, Adam Mickiewicza University. Food waste regulations in Poland, with special reference to the situation in the beekeeping sector.

 

15.00 hs. Third session. Nuevo régimen sobre cadena alimentaria y desperdicio alimentario Una visión desde España.

Moderador: Asunción Marín, Universidad de Sevilla.

José Abellán, Presidente Foro Agrario. Desperdicio alimentario y desafios de la cadena alimentaria.

Leticia Bourges, SG CEDR. Utilidad y contradicciones en la noción del desperdicio alimentario.

Angel Sánchez, Universidad de La Rioja. Fin al agotamiento de las tierras y de las aguas: el desperdicio alimentario.

Benedetta Ubertazzi, Universidad Bicocca de Milán. Desperdicio alimentario y patrimonio cultural inmaterial de la UNESCO.

María Jose Cazorla, Universidad de Almería. La pérdida y desperdicio de alimentos hortícolas desde el campo a la mesa.

Pablo Amat, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Integralidad en la cadena alimentaria.

Ana Carretero, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. El papel de los canales cortos en la reducción del desperdicio alimentario y la generación de residuos.

Maria Paz de la Cuesta, Hague University. Prácticas antidesperdicio en los supermercados y su repercusión en el resto de la cadena y en los proveedores.

Juan Carlos Gamazo, Universidad de Valladolid. Una aproximación desde la economía circular al desperdicio alimentario.

Noemí Serrano, Universidad de Valladolid. Excedente y desperdicio de alimentos como oportunidad para la creación de empleo. Las contribuciones al empleo de la estrategia “de la granja a la mesa”.

 

Closing Session

Roland Norer, DG CEDR, Luzern University.