Registration of trademarks and patents for the regulatory sector

Italy has always been characterised by high inventive and productivity, that often make unique the discoveries and/or inventions of our fellow citizens.

Just to protect this huge wealth is better to seek legal protection in order to be able to mark one’s own ideas.

Such innovation is also often reflected in those products that are interesting at the level of health and wellness, and that are widely used by consumers.

For this reason, more and more companies resort to the registration of trademarks and patents in the regulatory sector as well.

Various information can be found about trademarks and patents in the web, but it is always better to trust experts so that no detail is left out, and not to risk any waste of time and money in unfeasible or inappropriately managed projects. This is why it is advisable to ask for a consultancy on the registration of a trademark or patent.

To understand better what this is about, let’s define in details the meaning of these two terms: trademark and patent.

What is a Registered Trademark?

The trademark is a sign used to identify the products or services of a company so that they can be distinguished from those offered by competitors.

All signs (this meaning words, drawings, letters, digits, colours, shape of the product or packaging) can be registered as trademarks, but also sounds (provided that they are suitable to distinguish the products of a company from those of other companies).

The trademark should be legal, meaning that it must not breach legal provisions, and cannot be in contrast with public order; it should be distinctive: it cannot be limited to words only referring to the type of carried out activity or manufactured product.

Besides, another feature of the trademark is its uniqueness and novelty. Just to ensure such requirement, it is essential to check any existence of the trademark before submitting the application. This is the so called anteriority research allowing experts of this sector to control the presence of the proposed trademark in the relevant records, and check that it has not been registered by another company.

Therefore, when a company gathers information on how to register a trademark or a logo, and consider the relevant costs, they should also consider the assistance of an expert consultant that can verify all relevant aspects and ensure the best service.

This, however, is still a good investment for a company wishing to ensure their own individuality, as the trademark allows consumers to identify specific products and services, distinguishing them from other equivalent or similar products. It is a tool to defend oneself against product counterfeiting and imitation.

It should be added that, after the trademark registration, the protection lasts 10 years, so a renewal must be applied.

In the food sector, more and more companies are opting for a professional expert for the registration of a trademark of their food supplements.

This has shown to be a winning decision over the years, as it has enabled companies to be known in the market via their own distinctive sign so that consumers can identify the company’s products univocally.

Patent your own product

Thanks to R&D, however, it is often requested to patent a food product. Even in this case, this refers to food supplements with special formulations meeting specific nutritional needs. In this case, the route to follow is different, as this is a patent and not a trademark.

The patent allows the inventor to have exclusive faculty to produce and market the patented product; other subjects are, in fact, excluded from using the invention covered by patent.

But this exclusivity only applies in the state that has released the patent; therefore the submission in Italy only ensures such protection in the Italian territory. Moreover, the patent has a validity of 20 years and is not renewable.

Also in the case of a patent, one should ensure that all requirements are complied. Only technological innovations with industrial application that are presented as new, original and solid can be patented.  In the sector of food supplements, the assistance of a company like Di Renzo Regulatory Affairs, that can follow companies in the whole procedure, is therefore a real and relevant advantage.

Written by: Federica Montozzi

Foto di Elf-Moondance da Pixabay