An invention is defined as a new and innovative solution in response to a technical problem. The invention may refer to the creation of an entirely new device, product, method, or process, or it may simply represent an improvement of a given product or process that already exists

Plant varieties enjoy their own specific form of protection. New, distinct, stable and homogeneous plant varieties are protectable.
To be new, the propagating or reproductive material or the harvested product of the variety must not have been the subject of commercial acts within the following time limits before the application for the plant variety right is filed:

• states of the European Union: 1 year
• in any other state: 6 years for woody stem varieties, 4 years for all other varieties.

To be distinct, the plant variety must be clearly distinguishable from any other variety that is known at the time the application for protection is filed.

To be stable, it must maintain stability in its characters even after successive reproductions or multiplications.

To be homogeneous, it must possess sufficient homogeneity.

A patent for industrial invention is the most important and comprehensive form of protection that can be accorded to a technological innovation. The duration of protection is, in fact, the most extensive (20 years in almost every country in the world) and also allows for the most comprehensive protection of the fundamental principle on which the invention is based.

Patent applications must be filed in Italy at the appropriate UPICA (Provincial Offices of the Ministry of Industry) or UIBM (Italian Patent and Trademark Office) offices.
Any Italian or foreign natural or legal person may apply for an Italian patent.
Applicants may be represented professionally only by licensed attorneys-at-law registered in the Register of Industrial Property Consultants or attorneys-at-law.

Download the PDF for more details: iter brevettuale in Italia

Your new software can be protected through a patent for invention if the software contains one or more technically novel algorithms. In other words, for your software to be patentable its technical features must meet the requirements for patentability (novelty and not obviousness) just like any invention in other fields of technology.

For example, software related to data compression, machine tool programming, and calculation of operating parameters are patentable software.

Although the invention patent is the most complete form for invention, in some cases software is not patentable, or it is advisable to supplement patenting with other forms of protection.

Software can be protected by copyright by registering it in a special registry with the SIAE when it is already published material, or by registering it as an unpublished work.
Innovative graphical aspects of software, such as icons, screens, buttons or other graphic symbols can be protected by registered design.

A European patent application can be filed as the first application for protection of the invention, claiming priority relative to one or more previous national filings (within 12 months of the first filing), or as the national phase of a PCT application.

There are far more member states of the European Patent Convention than there are members of the European Union. In addition to these, it is also possible to obtain a valid European Patent in the so-called Extension States and Validation States.

The Office performs a novelty search, after which it is necessary to designate the states of interest and request a substantive examination of the application.

Throughout the examination phase, an annual maintenance fee must be paid.
The examination procedure can end with a rejection or with the granting of the patent.

In case of rejection, an appeal against the decision is possible.

In case of grant, interested third parties have 9 months to file Opposition to the grant.
After grant, the patent must be validated in the states of interest, in some cases by submitting an application language translation of the entire patent or only the claims. From then on, the patent is subject to national law.

The mere discovery of something that already exists in nature cannot qualify as an invention. Therefore, inventions that are new, involve inventive activity, and are likely to have industrial application (in addition, of course, to being lawful, i.e., not contrary to public policy and morality) may be patentable.

The choice to patent must be made wisely by evaluating numerous factors, not just the presence of patentability requirements. In some cases, it is possible and advisable to use alternative strategies.

By putting one's invention in the public domain, through a "defensive" publication, one can at least ensure that no one else can patent it.

The invention may be kept secret, thus resorting to the protection provided for industrial secrecy, governed by Article 98 of the ICC, under which business information and technical-industrial experience, including commercial experience, subject to the legitimate control of the holder constitutes the object of protection, where such information
- is secret, in the sense that it is not as a whole or in the precise configuration and combination of its elements generally known or easily accessible to experts and practitioners
- have economic value as secret,
- is subjected, by the persons to whose lawful control it is subject, to measures that are reasonably considered appropriate to keep it secret.

Anyone interested in protecting his or her invention through patenting should first have a prior art search performed to verify that the invention does indeed have the necessary novelty and inventive step requirements.
A thorough novelty search can in some cases save investing in the filing of a patent application that may not meet the requirements for patentability, and in any case is helpful in drafting it.
Patent prior art searches may also be appropriate or necessary for reasons other than filing a patent application, including:

• to know and monitor the patent portfolio of one's competitors,
• assessing the territorial scope of protection on a given technology,
• invalidating another's patent,
• verify whether a given technology is in the public domain and therefore freely implementable, at least in the territories of one's interest,
• keep abreast of the state of the art of technology in one's field.

In cases where the inventor takes a cue from a pre-existing invention, and thus the invention is based on the same basic principle, but some inventive activity nevertheless intervenes, one can speak of a utility model. An improvement to a piece of machinery, which is not substantial, but nevertheless increases its productivity, for example, or its reliability, may be subject to filing as a utility model.
In Italy, utility model filing is not subject to a prior art search and has a duration of 10 years from the filing date of the application.

A PCT international patent application can be filed either as a first application for protection of the invention or by claiming priority relative to one or more previous national filings (within 12 months of the first filing).
The PCT application allows one to seek patent protection in all treaty states (see list of member countries on the WIPO website) through a single application filed in one's own language and only then translated into one of the official languages (Chinese, French, Japanese, English, Russian, Spanish, and German).

However, protection will be valid in those countries in which within the time limits (30 or 31 months after filing barring exceptions) entry to the relevant national stage is requested.
Following filing, a novelty search is carried out by a competent authority (the EPO for applications from Italy).

During the international phase, there are no maintenance fees to be paid and no other expenses that are mandatory to keep the application alive. However, there are activities that may be appropriate to perform depending on the search report that is obtained and in particular the request for a preliminary patentability examination.
The PCT process is extremely advantageous, especially when one has an interest in protecting a plurality of countries, as it allows one to defer many of the costs associated with obtaining a patent (e.g., entry costs at the national stages of individual countries and related translation costs) while allowing one to evaluate the markets of actual interest.