“Intellectual Property Infringements ex Legislative Decree n. 231/2001 in the Fashion Industry“ is the article published by Rivista 231 in the November issue, written by Marella Naj-Oleari and Giovanni d’Adamo, Development Compliance Partners S.r.l. IP rights infringements could constitute criminal offenses from which arises criminal liability for companies under Legislative Decree n. 231/2001. In the Fashion market the risk of interfering with other IP’s rights is extremely significant and often underestimated. The inclusion of IP crimes in the 231/01 list gives companies the opportunit

In the United States there is much discussion about the decision (18 June 2014) of The US Patent Office to cancel six trademarks registered between 1967 and 1990 by the famous football team Washington Redskins, all of them containing the name ‘Redskins’. ‘Redskin’ is considered an epithet disparaging and racist from a part of the Native American community . For this reason, in 2006, a group made up of six Native Americans asked the Office to cancel the trademarks appealing to the Lanham Act (Section 2), which prohibits the registration of trademarks that “may disparage”

Pinterest, currently one of the most popular and influencial social media, has lost the first round in the battle for the Community Trademark (CTM) before the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHMI)in Alicante. On January 2014, the Office rejected the opposition filed by Pinterest against the the identical trademark ‘Pinterest’ applied for by the British company Premium Interest. In OHMI’s opinion, Pinterest, which at the date on which Premium Interest’s application didn’t have any registered trademark in Europe, has not submitted reliable evidences about

The Legislative Decree 231/ 01 introduced into the Italian legal system a direct liability called “administrative” of legal entities, companies and associations (with the exception of the State, local authorities, other non-economic public entities as well as entities carrying out constitutional functions). The Decree provides that companies may be considered liable for certain crimes (circa a hundred, including corruption, bribery, violation of safety regulations, anti-money laundering, computer crimes, all listed by law) if they are committed or attempted by persons linked to the

The evolution of new media promo poses new problems in relation to the use of third party trademarks. Web search engines such as Google allow the creation of sponsored links of products and services in order to show them in a highlighted position when a user performs a search. When a user inputs one of the keywords selected by the advertiser, the paid-for results will be displayed either on the right-hand side of the screen, to the right of the natural results, or on the upper part of the screen, above the natural results, together with a short commercial message, headed as “Sponsored Li

The Bank that continues to grant credit to the debtor, guaranteed by a general guarantee agreement, without involving the guarantor on the matter, notwithstanding the existence of unpaid cheques and the gradual worsening of the debtor’s financial situation, could breach correctness and bona-fide’s obligations in the execution of the general guarantee agreement. Social share

The evolution of new media promo poses new problems in relation to the use of third party trademarks. Web search engines such as Google allow the creation of sponsored links of products and services in order to show them in a highlighted position when a user performs a search. When a user inputs one of the keywords selected by the advertiser, the paid-for results will be displayed either on the right-hand side of the screen, to the right of the natural results, or on the upper part of the screen, above the natural results, together with a short commercial message, headed as “Sponsored Li

The Court of Rimini (ruling no. 872/2012) rejected the Longoni Sport SpA in “extraordinary administration” (Giacomelli Group) claim to recover more than € 3.3 million paid to an international network currently comprising 250 sports shops in Italy, assisted by Scarpellini Naj-Oleari & Partners. The Court held that the trustee of the bankruptcy did not provide any evidence to demonstrate the condition of scientia decotionis, requested by art. 67, paragraph 2, Italian Bankruptcy Law. Social share

Art. 2560 II Comma of the Italian Civil Code provides that in case of assignment of the company, the purchaser is jointly liable with the seller for debts incurred during the carrying out of the business, if those debts are on the obligatory account books. It is a mandatory norm, which therefore besides operating independently from the will of the parties to the purchase (seller and purchaser), cannot even be avoided by the parties if the contrary or something different is agreed upon by contract. Indeed, more often than one would imagine, it happens to read clauses such as: “the credits and d

The Court of Milan granted a preliminary injunction to a cosmetics and parapharmaceutical products distribution company despite the fact that the competitor had prior registered an identical Community Trademark. In fact, according to the Court, the previous registration had been applied for with knowledge of the upcoming registration of an identical trade mark by the competitor, thence in bad faith. The trial originated with an urgent proceedings submitted by the company F. to the Court of Milan so as to obtain the immediate seizure and an injunction against the rival company M. which, accordi