ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Giovanni F Casucci, Matteo Casucci, Serena Spadavecchia and Alice Viviana Niccoli, EY Tax & Law
• lack of economic value of the information. Notably, the alleged infringer is not required to demonstrate how their use of information dif- fers from the claimant’s trade secret; instead, they can focus on undermining the claimant’s evidence. Timing is critical: if a Descrizione was granted and executed ex parte, the first defen - sive measure should be to demand that all col - lected data be kept strictly confidential and that the claimant be required to provide security. Moreover, the Trade Secrets Directive intro - duces an additional defensive argument based on the principle of procedural abuse. In accord - ance with Recital 22, it is possible to challenge actions brought in bad faith – such as applica - tions designed to unfairly delay or obstruct the respondent’s market access, or to intimidate or harass the respondent – as an abuse of process. 5.10 Dispositive Motions Italian jurisdiction does not provide for disposi - tive motions in the strict sense. However, urgent proceedings – often anticipating the outcome of ordinary litigation – frequently encourage the parties to reach a settlement, thereby saving sig - The estimated costs of trade secret litigation in Italy can vary considerably depending on the nature of the trade secrets involved and the complexity of the case. Typically, standard litigation in this field may range between EUR70,000 and EUR120,000, including both legal and technical expenses. However, where trade secret disputes involve IT- related issues, costs can significantly increase, ranging from EUR150,000 to EUR350,000, large - ly due to the cost of IT technical reports. nificant time and resources. 5.11 Cost of Litigation
Although not yet widely adopted, litigation financing is available through private insurance policies taken out prior to the alleged unlawful conduct.
6. Trial 6.1 Bench or Jury Trial
Trade secrets trials are exclusively decided by a panel of three judges in the merit proceedings (after “pre-trial stage” conducted by a Judge Rapporteur), while the urgent measures are granted by a single judge (subject to a possible appeal to be decided by a panel of three judges). There are no jury trials in trade secret or IP liti - gation. 6.2 Trial Process IP rights proceedings in Italy are governed by the Italian CPC and, for certain specific issues, by the CPI. A clear distinction exists between preliminary and main proceedings, particularly in terms of timing and their effectiveness in safeguarding trade secrets. Preliminary proceedings allow trade secret hold - ers to obtain a swift decision from the court with - in 6-12 months on average, including the appeal stage. These proceedings are very flexible (being not bound to procedural timelines) and usually, after the filing of the motion and the defensive brief, include a first hearing aimed at verifying the urgency, a technical stage on the validity and the infringement of the patent, and a final discussion focused both on the technical and legal aspects. The related order assessing trade secret misappropriation includes remedies such
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