Unlocking innovation: a seminar series on intellectual property

The sixth seminar is directed to researchers, administrative staff and companies interested in the topic.

For IIT PhDs attending these seminars can give access to the placement program.

Distinctive signs are essential for building brand identity:

• not only a trademark for identifying a commercial origin, but a more general reference, apt at identifying a company and its reputation;
• trademarks are also instruments apt at interpreting innovation and identify innovative products and services, as to facilitate consumers’ choice;
• trademarks developed in different kinds of signs, namely the so-called “non-conventional signs”, which better identify new products. Reference is made, for instance, to the colour shape / 3D trademarks, but also to movement and position trademarks, which are flexible tools for better identifying the distinctive features of the relevant products/services, that characterize;
• trademarks are also a pivotal advertising tool, contributing to the image of the owner and are also an instrument for creating wealth through the licensing activity;
• trademarks in the metaverse; trademarks are crucial for identifying and branding virtual goods and services, as well as entities within the metaverse. In the metaverse, trademarks safeguard the unique identity reputation and integrity of virtual goods/services. It is also worth considering the interaction of trademarks used in the physical world and those used in the metaverse with the potential infringement of image rights, due to the creation of avatars.
• if trademarks are an essential factor for creating the firm’s identity, designs are a fundamental marketing tool, since they protect the aesthetic features and the appeal of a product, both reals and virtual, thanks to the recent EU design reform, published in the Official Journal on November 18, 2024, which has widened the notion of product, likely to be protected by a design. In particular, the Design reform has opened to the protection of animation, movement and transition and of any of the respective feature, this meaning a great extension for the protection of digital design, visual effects and more. By incorporating animation into the definition of design, the legislation acknowledges the importance of modern digital design, going beyond static representations. This ensures that designers car protect innovative features, involving motion, thus enhancing the scope of design protection and encouraging creativity in digital and interactive media. Secondly, the definition of “product” has been revised to include both physical and non-physical items, where protection can be granted, even for spatial arrangements, symbols, logos, surfaces, patterns and graphical user interfaces. This introduces a new venue of protection for applicants in the technology sector, particularly for virtual environment. The new legislation on design is crucial for fostering innovation, allowing designers to secure rights for a broader array to creative works.
• Both trademarks and designs comply with the new “green” needs and become sustainable along the European Green Deal. Trademark and designs are fundamental assets for a company and are essential for the creation of a complete and competitive IP portfolio, as to enhance the company’s heritage, being crucial growing elements.

Speaker: Paola GELATO

Registration: link

Where: CHT@Erzelli, Genoa - Fibonacci meeting room