The Protection of Creative Designs: New Evaluation Standards Introduced by the Italian Supreme Court
By Alessandra Feller and Alessandra Bellani
Through judgment no. 23292 of November 13 2015, the Italian Supreme Court introduced a distinction between objective and subjective standards, which should guide the judges’ assessment in order to decide if an industrial design can seek protection under Italian copyright law (the “IC Law”).
The Supreme Court recalled the principles established under the IC Law providing that:
- industrial designs are worthy of protection if they have a “quid pluris” that consists of creative and artistic features; and
- simple creative works are worthy of protection even if they only have an intrinsic artistic value.