ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Daniela Ampollini, Luca Pellicciari, Elena Mannini and Andrea Beltrame, Trevisan & Cuonzo
against PI orders, the panel includes judges of the same Commercial Chamber to which the judge who issued the appealed preliminary order belongs, excluding the latter. In the case of appeals against first-instance decisions, the panel comprises three judges of the Court of Appeal that is territorially competent. 7.3 Special Provisions Intellectual property proceedings are subject to the general provisions on appeal proceedings laid down by the Civil Procedural Code. There are no special provisions for Intellectual Property Proceedings. In Italy, no particular forums/procedures are rel - evant to life sciences and pharma IP litigation, which are subject to the provisions regulating IP proceedings in general. Following the ratification of the UPC agreement, from 1 June 2023, Euro - pean patents are also subject to the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court unless the patentee has opted out of their patent. 9. Alternative Dispute Resolution 9.1 ADR Options Alternative dispute resolutions (such as arbitra - tion proceedings and mediations) are possible in life sciences and pharma disputes. However, ADR is not a common way of starting or set - tling a life science case, and there is little or no practice in this respect. Concerning arbitration proceedings, there are two main issues to con - sider: the high costs involved and the ongoing debate over whether arbitrators can decide on 8. Other Relevant Forums/ Procedures 8.1 The UPC or Other Forums
the validity of patents. It is important to note that Legislative Decree No 149/2022 has expanded arbitrators’ powers to include the issuance of preliminary measures during arbitration. How - ever, it is also crucial to understand that before arbitration begins, the court retains exclusive jurisdiction to issue these preliminary measures.
10. Settlement/Antitrust 10.1 Considerations and Scrutiny
There is no specific consideration or particular scrutiny that is worth mentioning relating to the Italian jurisdiction.
11. Collective Redress 11.1 Group Claims
Group claims, also known as class actions, are possible in Italy. They are, however, very rare in life sciences and pharma disputes, and there is little or no practice in this respect. As of May 2021, class actions are governed by Articles 840-bis to 840-sexiedecies of the Ital - ian Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), whereas the provisions on class actions were previously contained in the Italian Consumer Code. These new provisions have strengthened this tool and broadened its scope to cover both contractual and non-contractual liability. More in detail, according to Article 840-bis CPC, a non-profit organisation or association (regis - tered in a specific list, established at the Ital - ian Ministry of Justice), or each member of a relevant class, may bring an action against an undertaking or a public service or utility compa - ny to obtain a declaration of liability and an order for damages and restitution. The action must be
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