On 19 February 2026, I had the honour and privilege of being invited by the European Commission to discuss the UP and the UPC with some of Europe’s leading patent practitioners. This article sets out the reflections I shared on that occasion: where the system is already delivering, where the friction points are emerging in practice, and which technical adjustments would most effectively improve usability, predictability and legitimacy.

With Law no. 132/2025 of 23 September 2025, Italy is the first EU Member State to complement Regulation (EU) no. 2024/1689 with a comprehensive national framework on artificial intelligence.

The "Unitary Patent" is a European Patent, granted by the European Patent Office following the traditional procedure, for which the holder requests the unitary effect. This is in force as from June 2023. The UPC is new court common to the EU Member States, having jurisdiction on Unitary Patents and traditional European Patents.

The Unified Patent Court or UPC is a new court common to the EU Member States that have signed and ratified its founding agreement. Here’s an overview of its structure and jurisdiction.

The Unified Patent Court or UPC is a new court common to the EU Member States that have signed and ratified its founding agreement. Here’s an an overview of the available remedies, enforcement, languages, applicable law and timing of the proceedings.

The Unified Patent Court or UPC is a new court common to the EU Member States that have signed and ratified its founding agreement. Here’s an overview of the applicable procedures.

The "Unitary Patent" is a European Patent for which the holder requests the unitary effect. This is in force as from June 2023. The UPC is new court common to the EU Member States, having jurisdiction on Unitary Patents and traditional European Patents. Here is an overview of their Pros and Cons.

Among others, the Italian Communication Authority can order ISPs, ex parte, to block access within 30 minutes to unauthorised transmissions of live content and premieres of audiovisual content, including sport events

An overview of the main changes: coexistence between national and European/Unitary patent; overturning of the Professor's privilege; civil seizure at fairs; temporary protection of designs exhibited at fairs.

The Italian Ministry of Economic Development released new guidelines on prize competitions. Prizes in cryptocurrencies are not allowed as they are comparable to forbidden cash prizes. NFTs and similar are instead allowed,

The Italian Budget Law for 2023 laid out the new tax regime for crypto-assets, defined as "a digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred or stored electronically, using a distributed ledger or similar technology".

As of 29 December 2022, eligible subjects will be able to file an application with the Italian Patent and Trademark Office for a declaration of invalidity or revocation of a registered trademark.

The current version of the Italian Patent Box regime provides for a tax bonus of 110% for research and development costs related to certain types of intangible assets. In essence, a cost of 100 would be recognised as costs of 210 for tax purposes.

The development of AI requires significant investment from companies, which have an urgent need to better protect the related intellectual property. Here are some pros and cons of its protection through the use of trade secrets.

Blockchain technologies can be used to protect and enforce IP rights, mainly because, due to its design and structure, a blockchain is immutable.

Various exclusive rights can be granted over blockchain technologies in Italy, including in the case of public blockchains

Regulation (EU) 2019/933, which amends Regulation (EC) n. 469/2009 on the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) for medicinal products, came into force on 1 July 2019.

The European Commission provided some practical indications to follow in order to realise green marketing campaigns in line with the applicable laws