UPDATE

We are publishing the article that appeared today (13.06.2011) in Corriereconomia, on page 12.

After decades of almost total absence, and after accepting an Italian Patent and Trademark Office with obvious deficiencies, it now appears that the Confederation of Italian Industry, Confindustria, is content with a compensation that is, in substance, mere pocket money.

Apparently Confindustria has forgotten that the Community Patent has a legal system to protect it which is standard throughout the EU and adopts the same official languages as the Community Patent.

Is Confindustria aware how many Italian Companies are proficient enough in a foreign language to be able to understand a patent and/or a legal document and can therefore look after their own interests? How many small and medium enterprises have this possibility? Indeed, how many of them have to have a blind trust in their consultants?

Instead of tagging along behind in order to feel great, and in this way simply giving assistance to her closest competitors, why does Italy not try to assert herself, and look after her own interests? Why should she agree to protect her own inventive rights only with a foreign language?

Is there anyone who has a real idea what it means to structure a patent or argue the case in a court of law in a language which is not his own?

Read the article