On September 20, 2012 the IP specialized sections will morph into "Commercial Courts".
This change was introduced by Law Decree No. 1 of 24 January 2012, confirmed by Law No. 27 of 24 march 2012, which
a) renamed the "old" IP Specialized Sections into "Commercial Courts"
b) increased their number,
c) extended their competence to almost every litigation related to corporate law, including antitrust.
The initiative has the purpose to provide Italian and foreign companies with a more efficient court system, and follows the track of the IP specialized courts, established in 2003 and since then capable of reducing the trial delays and increasing the quality of the decisions.
However the increased number of courts (there were 12 IP Specialized Sections; there will be 21 Commercial courts, located in the following towns: Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Campobasso, Catania, Catanzaro, Firenze, Genova, L'Aquila, Milano, Napoli, Palermo, Perugia, Potenza, Roma, Torino, Trento, Trieste, and Venezia) hinders the above targets, as quality and speed can be obtained by concentrating the litigation in a small number of courts, so that judges become actually specialized and develop a consistent case law.
As far as IP litigation is concerned, we may expect that the judges of the commercial courts that presently do not host an IP specialized section will need some time to get acquainted with patent, trademark and copyright cases; where IP specialized sections already exist the change should be almost nominal.
In the near future, therefore, choosing the correct forum to bring a litigation will become more important and may significantly affect the chances of success (or, at least, the timing of the proceedings).
If you need any additional information do not hesitate to write me at gualtiero.dragotti@dlapiper.com
