In the Official Journal of the Italian Republic of 31 July 2009 n. 176, the law 23 July 2009, n. 99 (“Provisions for the development and internationalization of companies, and energy” has been published. Some of the most interesting aspects of this law are the amendment of a series of articles of the penal code (in particular, articles 473, 474 and 517), with the aim of punishing more harshly the crimes of counterfaiting, introduction within the territory of the State od products with false signs and sale of industrial products with misleading signs, and the amendment of art. 4, par. 49, of the law 24 december 2003, n. 350, whose new text is the following:
“The importation and exportation for marketing purposes, the marketing or any action aimed to in non-equivocal way to the marketing of products bearing false or misleading indications of provenance or origin, constitutes a crime and is punished pursuant to Art. 517 of the penal code. The application of the “made in Italy” wording on products and goods not originating from Italy, pursuant to the EU legislation on the origin, constitutes a false indication; the use of any mark, image or sign that can induce the consumer to believe that the product or good is of Italian origin, included the deceptive or misleading use of company trademarks pursuant to the rules on the unfair commercial practices, constitutes a misleading indication, even if the foreign origin and provenance of the products or goods are indicated. The use of trademarks of Italian companies on products or goods not originating from Italy, pursuant to the EU legislation on the origin, without the exact indication, in evident terms, of their Country or place of manufacturing or production, or of any other indication sufficient to avoid errors on their real foreign origin, shall also constitute a misleading indication. Crimes shall be deemed to be committed from the time the products or goods are presented to the customs for the release for consumption or for free circulation, until they are sold to the retail market. The misleading indication of goods can be regularized on the administrative plan through the removal, on initiative and at the expense of the transgressor, of the marks, images or signs inducing to believe that the product is of Italian origin. The false indication of origin or provenance of products or goods can be regularized on the administrative plan through the exact indication of the origin or the removal of the wording «made in Italy». False or misleading indications of provenance or origin cannot be regularized once the products or goods are released for free circulation”.
(continues ...in Italian)
