Legislative Decree No. 30/2005, adopting Industrial Property Code under A. 15 Law No. 273/2002.

The Legislative Decree is organised in VIII Headings and concerns the adoption of the Industrial Property Code as prescribed by A. 15 of the Law No. 273/2002. For the purposes of this Code, under A. 1 Industrial Property means: trademarks and other distinctive signs, geographical indication and designations of origin, designs and models, inventions, utility models, topographies of semiconductor products, trade secrets and new plant varieties. Industrial Property Rights are acquired through patenting, registration or other methods as identified by this Code. Patenting and registrations create property Titles. Under the Code new plant varieties, and inventions, such as biotechnology inventions can be patented, whereas geographical indication and designations of origin find protection when certain conditions are met.
Under Heading II, the Code lists the Industrial Property Rights and describes their aspects and scope. Section 2 is dedicated to Geographical Indications; they are included in this definition geographical indications and denominations of origin identifying a country, region or locality, when they are adopted to designate a product that comes from those areas and whose qualities, reputation or characteristics are due exclusively or essentially to its geographical origin, inclusive of natural, human, and traditional factors. The use of such designation is prohibited when it can deceive the public or when it misuses the “protected denomination”. Section IV, Inventions, includes as well inventions for the farm industry. Section IV-Bis lays down the discipline for biotechnological inventions, for the purposes of this code, the following definitions applies: a) biological material: a material containing genetic information genetic, self-reproducing or capable of reproducing in a biological system; b) microbiological procedure: any procedure in which a microbiological material is used. A plant or animal production process is essentially biological when is the result of just natural phenomena. Art. 81-quater establishes conditions for patenting, 81-quinquies exclusions, 81-sexies and 81-septies distinguish to what biological material and processes that derive from the invention the patent protection is extended or not extended. Section VII regulates the discipline and protects the right of whom has discovered a new plant variety or the employer that has commissioned the job; to find protection under the Code the new plant variety must be new, different, homogenous, and stable.
Heading III, Section 1 contains the legislative procedures for industrial property rights. Heading IV regulates the process and conditions for obtaining and maintaining patents and registering Industrial Property Rights. Heading V is on Special procedures and Heading VI on professional categories. Heading VII identifies competencies and responsibilities among different administrations for the Industrial Property Rights discipline. Heading VIII contains final provisions.