Which areas of IP/IT is your firm active in?
COCUZZA is active in every area of IP/IT law, providing comprehensive legal services to clients across a wide range of industries. Our team of experienced attorneys has extensive knowledge and expertise in all aspects of intangible rights, enabling us to provide our clients with the highest level of legal representation and support.
Practice areas include, but are not limited to, trademark, design, patents, copyright, licensing, IP litigation, IP portfolio management, trade secrets, software and technology transactions, Internet law, e-commerce, etc.
Being based in Milan, we represent several fashion and luxury goods industry clients and common issues are often related to trademarks, license agreements and design, which are of course a substantial part of our daily work.
We also represent companies running businesses in several other fields, and our IP practice involves know-how protection and patents as well.
I am personally a litigator, but we also provide support and advice for filing and prosecution as long as patent registration, leveraging on consolidated relationships with patent and trademark agents.
We pride ourselves on our ability to provide our clients with practical, business-oriented solutions to their IP/IT legal needs. Our team works closely with clients to understand their business goals and develop tailored legal strategies that help them achieve their goals while minimizing risk and maximizing value.
Who in your firm is dedicated to which areas of IP/IT?
I am the head of the IP department, and I work with Pietro Minaudo, Alessandro Cappai, Lorenzo Fabbri and many others, as the case may require, to help our clients to succeed, whether they are startups seeking to protect their intellectual property, multinational corporations facing complex IP litigation, or a technology companies navigating the rapidly evolving legal landscape of the digital age.
Quite frequently, we work alongside other partners of the firm who deal with different practice areas, such as real estate or commercial transactions. My team is also often involved in the IP/IT aspects of M&A operations.
Although we have a dedicated team for data protection, which I belong to as well, it happens quite often to work together on cross-border issues.
Please mention some recent IP/IT matters that you and your colleagues have been working on.
Along with our daily basis filing and prosecution activity, we have been working on several interesting cases.
For instance, we are providing our support on a trademark case involving two well-known entrepreneurs, brothers, fighting for the use of a sign for the products of two family companies active in similar but in different fields.
We have also provided support in a cross-border design and trademark counterfeiting case in the cosmetic industry with implications in South America and Australia.
We provided assistance for a complex license agreement involving several patents connected to machinery for the industrial production of fabrics and related software.
Can you name an example of your cooperation with other Legalink members?
Lately, we have successfully worked with Legalink firms for some IP trademark prosecution matters, trademarks filings, and domain name disputes along with some M&A operations which involved IP aspects.
What are your firm’s future expectations and plans in the area of IP/IT?
Our firm has high expectations for the future in the area of IP/IT. We plan to continue expanding our practice and staying on top of emerging trends and developments in the field.
We are committed to providing our clients with the highest level of legal representation and support, and we will continue to invest in the growth and development of our team to ensure that we are able to meet their evolving needs. We also plan to deepen our relationships with other Legalink members, leveraging our global network to provide our clients with seamless, cross-border legal services.
What are some emerging IP and IT law trends, and how do you see the legal landscape evolving in these areas over the next few years?
On the patent side, on January 26, 2024, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Italy reached a milestone with the finalisation of the Headquarters Agreement for the UPC's Central Division's third seat in Milan.
As a consequence, in addition to being the only Local Division in Italy, Milan hosts the third Central Division along with the Munich and Paris Divisions with jurisdiction over patent disputes in the “human necessities” sector, comprising the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, the agricultural industry, the food industry, the tobacco industry, the home appliances industry, the clothing industry, the wood and furniture industry, the fire-fighting industry, the sports and gaming industry.
Of course, that is an extremely important result for Italy and for Milan, one of the main European hubs in innovation and intellectual property and whose Central Division, in addition to the Local Division, will judge important Unitary Patent disputes from all the European countries which are part of the EU Patent Package.
One of the other main topics is artificial intelligence (AI) as a key area of growth and opportunity in the field of IP/IT law, as AI technology continues to advance at a rapid pace and is creating new legal challenges and opportunities for businesses across a wide range of industries.
COCUZZA is committed to remaining at the forefront of these developments, and we are actively exploring ways to leverage AI to enhance our legal services and provide our clients with innovative, cutting-edge solutions to their IP/IT legal needs. We are also closely monitoring the evolving legal landscape around AI, and we are working to ensure that our clients are well-positioned to navigate the complex legal issues that arise in this rapidly changing field.