In Italy, trademark cancellation actions (both forfeiture and invalidity) had so far been decided exclusively by judges specializing in civil court proceedings.
As of December 29, 2022, actions can be filed with the Italian Patent and Trademark Office, following the implementation of amendments to the Industrial Property Code.
This new alternative route allows interested parties to choose between civil and administrative proceedings, decreasing the workload of specialized courts and reducing the duration and cost of actions.
Ginevra Righini, Roberto Valenti, Gualtiero Dragotti and Elena Varese from the law firm DLA Piper discussed this on February 2, 2023 in a webinar.