CONFERENCE “IP & BUSINESS” Milan, 23.11.2023

The “IP & BUSINESS” conference was held at the Barzanò & Zanardo headquarters in Milan in hybrid mode, both in presence and remotely with more than 200 people connected, as an occasion for exchange between the world of IP professionals and the world of business.

The Intellectual Property was not presented by the Director, Mrs. Anna Maria Bardone, as an academic matter, but rather as an indispensable bridge with companies, under the collaborative spirit of common and sustainable growth.

The B&Z Academy, promoter of the initiative, is an internal training instrument that contributes to the continuous professional and personal growth required to our professionals, as well as an “external” training instrument, aimed at spreading the culture of intellectual property among companies, too.

The day began with a round-table discussion: the present and future of IP and consulting services have been debated, thanks to the testimonies of in-house consultants and managers of leading companies, both in Italy and abroad, who have believed and invested in the intellectual property field. The figure of the in-house intellectual property professional acts as an internal resource of the company able to understand the needs of both the management and the creative and technical part of the company, and to come up with strategic choices in the light of a careful assessment of risk and opportunities, to prevent and possibly resolve any critical issue, and catch and promote new opportunities for the protection and development of the company’s know-how.

The added value of the external consultancy (the so-called “private practice”) is to advise and support the company in the best way to maintain its competitive advantage and reduce the entrepreneurial risk related to intellectual property.

Furthermore, it has been highlighted that the consultant, both the in-house and “external” one, is an intermediate figure between the technician and the legal fields and, at the same time, is more than both. The consultant must in fact transmit in a comprehensible way the possible problems and opportunities related to the protection of IP assets to the company’s management: the first issue to be addressed to is that of the chosen language. In this sense, it is essential to constantly deepen these matters, also through short trainings on intellectual property in companies, in order to reach a common language, and, therefore, get to identify a strategic choice that is as clear as possible, yet without oversimplifying the concepts.

Later on, the conversation focused on the advantages of the Patent Box, an intellectual property tool which is useful to companies to pursue economic and tax-saving objectives, by optimizing the costs incurred to create IP assets, i.e. protected software, patents for utility models, certificates for plant varieties and topographies, models and designs.

Moreover, the added value that IP rights confer to products was analysed: the consumer usually chooses the product also on the basis of the value it has acquired thanks to the trademark or patent that protects it. The IP asset, besides being a strategic value for companies, becomes therefore a financial value, too.

In the second part of the conference, an interesting focus was dedicated to a recent approach for the mitigation of the risks deriving from possible infringements of IP rights, i.e. to the possibility of insuring oneself with regards to the possible costs that one may incur as a result of the involvement in a legal action for infringement on behalf of third parties, owners of intellectual property rights. In particular, it has been debated about the new opportunities, provided mainly by UK insurance companies, which allow to extend the coverage of insurances even at the risk of awarding potential compensations to third parties for unintentionally infringing an intellectual property right. In this sense, it is essential to seek the advice of an IP professional who can suggest the best strategy, in order to both reduce any potential risk in advance and to prove the good faith of the insured in order not to incur exclusions from the coverage provided by the policies.

A further interesting round table discussion was then held with some representatives of important companies of excellence of the Italian territory, as owners of trademarks that have obtained the prestigious recognition of registration in the Special Register of Historical Trademarks. In fact, some prominent personalities of the best Italian company and of the values of the historicity of its know-how and business strategy were directly involved. Also, thanks to the contribution of the Association of Historical Trademarks of Italy, it has been pointed out that the Historic Trademark is a tool for enhancing and communicating the innovation heritage of which companies of excellence are bearers. This priceless heritage, which the company owns, also finds official recognition thanks to the registration of the trademark in the Special Register. The brand-identity is thus enriched with an additional channel of communication and certification of Italian excellence.

These panel discussions have been animated by the contributions of the entrepreneurs involved, who shared their experience. The speakers illustrated their path, starting from the first steps taken in the foundation of the company, the uniqueness of the production processes and processing methods of the products that lead to the construction of success, as well as the added value of a historic company in our territory. Food for thought emerged, showing “historicity” as a way of measuring a company, the guarantee of its solidity and the value it has acquired over time thanks to consumers’ feedback. Being the owner of a historic brand becomes therefore the testimony of a company that remains rooted in the territory, bearing its costs and believing in its business and identity. Consequently, historicity as responsibility.

Last but not least, it has been highlighted that historical companies have managed to create a combination of production methods, local resources and raw materials, such as to be able to reach international markets thanks to the innovation and quality that constitute the so-called made in Italy. At the same time, it was interesting to learn how, often, innovation is made up of the rediscovery of ancient methods, reinvented to produce excellence. With this in mind, the protection of IP rights becomes an indispensable tool to counter the phenomenon of Italian sounding and defend the quality of products also thanks to the historicity of Italian trademarks as well as the skills acquired, over the decades, from the resources of the territory.

The conference concluded with the hope that the ideas that had emerged from the exchange between IP professionals and companies can be the start of dialogue and common vision of growth and innovation.

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