ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Daniela Ampollini, Luca Pellicciari, Elena Mannini and Andrea Beltrame, Trevisan & Cuonzo
5.6 Relevance of Claimant/Plaintiff Conduct to Relief Courts often consider the claimant’s conduct prior to the commencement of the proceedings, especially when dealing with PI proceedings. In such cases, claiming alleged irreparable harm (ie, one of the requirements to obtain a PI) after having, for example, delayed in seeking relief or shown tolerance with respect to the infring - er’s conduct could undermine the possibility of obtaining the requested measures. Refusal to attempt amicable solutions is also a conduct that may be assessed negatively by the court, especially when it comes to merits proceedings. In Italy, disputes over trade marks in the pharma - ceutical and life sciences sectors are quite com - mon. When it comes to pharmaceutical trade marks, it’s important to consider not only the provisions of the IP Code but also Legislative Decree 219/2006, which implemented Directive 2001/83/EC in Italy. Additionally, there are rel - evant non-binding regulations to keep in mind, such as Article 25 of the Italian Code of Self- Regulation for Marketing Communication and the Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health. For public health protection purposes, the name of the medicinal product must be submitted to AIFA (Italian Medicines Agency) for approval before its product is marketed. It may be either a creative name or a common or scientific name, but the creative name shall not lead to confu - sion with the common name (International Non- proprietary Name (INN) or, in the absence of the INN, the usual common name). 6. Other IP Rights 6.1 Trade Marks
6.2 Copyright Copyright matters are governed by Law No 633/1941. Copyright disputes are very rare in the life sciences and pharma sector and may concern images used on the packaging, leaflets and advertising material of medicinal products. 6.3 Trade Secrets The rules governing trade secrets are Articles 98 and 99 of the IP Code, which identifies what can be regarded as a trade secret and the scope of protection thereof. Disputes on this matter in the life sciences and pharma sector are rare. Appeals against PI orders must be filed within 15 days from the communication of said order by submitting a motion for appeal and the rel - evant evidence in court. Appeal proceedings are held before a panel of three judges, with no leave to appeal. Once an appeal against a PI order is filed, the President of the Panel schedules by decree the hearing to discuss the appeal (which is usually held one month after the filing of the appeal) and grants the other party a deadline to file its brief in reply and relevant evidence. Appeal proceedings are generally shorter than first-instance preliminary proceedings, and the order is usually issued two or three weeks after the hearing. Appeal proceedings involve a full review of the case on the points raised by the parties in their briefs, and it is also possible that the panel deems it necessary to reopen the technical discussion of the case and appoint a new court expert. The panel may also take into account possible circumstances and grounds that have arisen after the PI order, and the par - ties may file new (ie, supervened) evidence, pro - vided that the other party is given the possibility 7. Appeal 7.1 Timeframe to Appeal Decision
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