Manuale di diritto industriale, Adriano Vanzetti and Vincenzo di Cataldo, Giuffrè Editore, 2018, ISBN: 978-88-14-22252-8, Hardcover, xxiv + pp. 678, Price: €50
The Italian expression “diritto industriale” (industrial law) does not relate to industrial relations law nor to labour law. Instead, it encompasses the area of unfair competition law, trade-mark law, patent law and, more recently, also competition law. Some authors also include under “diritto industriale” copyright law.
Now in its eighth edition, the book under review represents the classic and probably the most popular textbook used in Italian University courses in this particular area of law for the last twenty-five years.
The book provides a comprehensive and easy-to-read overview of “industrial law” in the above-mentioned meaning, with the exception of copyright law. In this respect, it is worth pointing out that industrial law is incorporated in a single law, namely, the Industrial Property Code (the “IPC”), while copyright is ruled by a different law.
Since the last edition of the book in 2012, many legislative changes have been introduced and many important decisions have been adopted by national and EU courts. One major piece of legislation adopted since 2012 is Legislative Decree No. 63 of 11 May, 2018 which amends the IPC and the Penal Code, in order to implement Directive 2016/943 and transpose it into national law regarding the protection against misappropriation of trade secrets at EU level. The 2017 Regulation on the European Union trade mark as well as Directive 2015/2436 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks are also important.
Like the previous edition, the book is divided into six parts.
The first part deals with unfair competition as foreseen by Article 2598 of the Italian Civil Code. The second part, which arguably constitutes the central and most important part of the book, focuses on trade marks. Part three focuses on patents and models. Part four deals with procedural issues and rules. However, the authors merely give the basic concepts and notions and the analysis is quite insufficient for such a crucial topic. Similarly, part five offers a rather concise overview of antitrust law. Part six looks at the rules of the Italian Civil Code concerning competition.
Vanzetti and Di Cataldo’s book remains an invaluable tool for students and essential reading for any further academic research as well for practitioners involved in this field of law.
Riccardo Sciaudone
Head
Reviewed June 2019