ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Monica Riva, Alessandra Ottolini, Francesco Chierichetti and Giulia Ghidini, Legance
• define background know-how and foreground know-how; • allocate ownership of newly developed information; • regulate permitted use; and • impose confidentiality obligations surviving termi- nation. Post-contractual non-compete or non-solicitation clauses may also be used, particularly in employment or consultancy relationships, but they must com- ply with the limits imposed by Italian law, including requirements of duration, scope, territory and consid- eration, where applicable. 6.5 Licensing and Assignment Know-how may be assigned or licensed separately from patents, trade secrets or other IP rights, although in practice it is often transferred or licensed together with technology, patents, software or technical assis- tance. No registration, notarisation or specific statutory for- mality is generally required for know-how licences or assignments. However, written agreements are essen- tial to define the subject matter, permitted uses, con- fidentiality obligations, duration, territory, exclusivity, sublicensing, consideration and consequences of termination. Because know-how can be difficult to identify, con- tracts should describe it as precisely as possible, often through schedules, technical annexes, data packages, drawings, manuals or handover reports. Proper documentation also helps prove the existence, scope and transfer of the know-how if disputes arise. 6.6 Reverse Engineering Reverse engineering is generally lawful where informa- tion is obtained by observing, studying, disassembling or testing a product that has been lawfully acquired and is publicly available or otherwise lawfully in the recipient’s possession. However, information may remain protectable where it is not readily accessible and its extraction requires sig- nificant effort, expertise or unlawful conduct. Reverse engineering does not justify breach of confidentiality
duties, unauthorised access, copying of protected materials or circumvention of legal restrictions. Contractual clauses prohibiting or limiting reverse engineering are commonly used and may be enforce- able, subject to mandatory rules and competition law limits. For software, statutory exceptions must be considered, including those relating to interoperabil- ity and lawful use. 7. Data, AI and Emerging IP Issues 7.1 Data Rights and Database Protection Italy recognises both copyright protection for original databases and the sui generis database right. A data- base is protected by copyright where the selection or arrangement of its contents reflects the author’s intellectual creation. The sui generis right protects the maker of a database that has made a substan - tial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting its contents. The sui generis right allows the maker to prohibit extraction or re-utilisation of all or a substantial part of the database contents. It does not protect individual data as such. Protection generally lasts 15 years, with a new term possible where substantial new invest- ment results in a substantial change to the database. Datasets may also be protected by contract, access terms, technological measures and trade secret law where the relevant requirements are met. Scraping and data extraction must be assessed in light of copyright, database rights, contract, trade secrets, data protection and unfair competition. Text and data mining (TDM) exceptions may apply where the user has lawful access and, for broader com- mercial TDM, where the rights holder has not validly reserved its rights. 7.2 AI-Generated Works and Inventorship/ Authorship Italian law follows an anthropocentric approach to authorship and inventorship, in that copyright pro- tection requires a human creative contribution. Law No 132/2025 amended the Copyright Law to refer to
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