ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Giovanni F Casucci, Matteo Casucci, Serena Spadavecchia and Alice Niccoli, EY Tax & Law
7. Appeal 7.1 Special Provisions for Intellectual Property Proceedings Decisions can be appealed according to the general rules set forth in the CPC, without spe- cial provisions concerning intellectual property rights proceedings. 7.2 Type of Review Decisions issued in urgent proceedings (eg, pre- liminary injunctions) can be appealed within 15 days. In these proceedings ( reclamo ), it is pos- sible to add facts and documents/evidence. The judge schedules at least one hearing for the dis- cussion and may concede terms to the parties for filing other written defences (replies and clari- fications). Normally, the new decision is issued a few weeks later and cannot be appealed further. Decisions issued in ordinary proceedings (ie, proceedings on the merit) can be appealed with- in 30 days (if the other party is notified of the decision) or six months (if the other party is not notified of the decision). In these proceedings ( appello ), as a general rule, it is not possible to add new facts, arguments and documents/evi- dence, and the claims shall specifically address the issues – factual and judicial – neglected and/or misinterpreted by the first judge. The judge usually schedules only two hearings for discussion and parties then have two rounds of written defences to present the case, reply and make their conclusion and final requests. These proceedings can last two to three years. The decision issued can be contested before the Supreme Court (but only for issues concerning the implementation and/or interpretation of the law).
8. Costs 8.1 Costs Before Filing a Lawsuit
Usually, when aware of an infringement (suffered or committed), a party can react in different ways before filing a lawsuit. In particular, investiga- tions or an expert analysis can be carried out (eg, purchases of allegedly counterfeited items; requests for forensic and technical opinions; drafts of warning letters). In all of these cases, the party shall bear the costs (which can be sub- mitted for a full or partial refund – as “cost of reaction”) in the future lawsuit. 8.2 Calculation of Court Fees Court fees for commencing intellectual property rights proceedings are paid at the time of filing the case. The fees are fixed but divided into dif- ferent brackets depending on the declared mon- etary value of the case (eg, the value of a licence agreement and relative royalties): the higher the monetary value involved, the higher the fee. Nonetheless, in most cases, before commenc- ing the lawsuit it is impossible to provide an evaluation of the monetary value of the litigation (usually depending on the damage ascertained during the proceedings). In these cases, the fee is fixed and varies from approximately EUR500 to approximately EUR1,000, depending on the type of proceeding (ie, urgent proceedings or proceedings on the merit). The number of par- ties and/or of patents involved is irrelevant (these elements can possibly increase the complexity of the case and therefore the costs of the legal defence in the litigation). 8.3 Responsibility for Paying the Costs of Litigation Before and during the litigation, each party bears its own costs. The judge decides if the litiga- tion costs (especially ones related to the legal defence, the court expert intervention, etc) shall
295 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook