Italy: Italy enhances IP regime and introduces grandfathering period for trademarks

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Italy: Italy enhances IP regime and introduces grandfathering period for trademarks

Massimiano
Saccardo

Aurelio Massimiano

Nicola Saccardo

Law No. 208 of December 28 2015 (Stability Law 2016) has further improved the Italian patent box regime, which was introduced a year earlier by the Law No. 190 of December 23 2014.

The patent box regime, based on the OECD nexus approach, is optional, irrevocable for a five-year period, renewable and provides for a 50% (30% for 2015 and 40% for 2016) exemption of the income derived from the exploitation or direct use of intellectual property (IP) and full exemption from qualifying gains on IP. Qualifying IP includes software protected by copyright, patents, trademarks, designs, processes, formulas, models and know-how that can enjoy legal protection. The regime can be opted for in relation to each single IP under a cherry-picking approach and, if the IP is directly used by the applicant, is subject to a mandatory ruling procedure.

The Stability Law 2016 has now improved the regime by providing that, if IPs are jointly exploited for the realisation of a product or process, the applicant can opt to treat such IPs as a single asset.

On February 11 2016 the Revenue Agency released statistics on the number of applications for the regime. The statistics confirm the regime's success, with 4,500 applications filed, mainly for trademarks (36%), know-how (22%) and patents (18%).

OECD recommendations have directed Italy to remove trademarks from the scope of the regime after a grandfathering period ending on June 30 2016. This implies that taxpayers can benefit from the patent box regime on trademarks for a (non-renewable) five-year period, provided that they successfully launch the application by June 30 2016. Otherwise, trademarks will not qualify. It is therefore imperative for groups to urgently consider the filing of the application.

Aurelio Massimiano (a.massimiano@maisto.it) and Nicola Saccardo (n.saccardo@maisto.it)

Maisto e Associati

Tel: +39 02 776931 and +44 207 3740 299

Website: www.maisto.it

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

If the Reform leader becomes UK prime minister then he may follow the direction of the US in at least one significant way
Trump declared a new national emergency in issuing the order; in other news, Grant Thornton Germany is up for sale and the subject of interest from both its UK and US counterparts
The judgment, which saw Denmark's Supreme Court rely on OECD TP guidance, sets aside more than 15 years of consistent administrative practice, experts have told ITR
Belgium’s new coalition government has gone ahead with a new exit tax regime that could land it in the courts
Brazil’s government has not officially framed the bill as a countermeasure amid trade tensions with the US, but the move is being considered as part of Brazil’s strategic response, one expert tells ITR
Understanding India’s income tax landscape can help charities ensure compliance, optimise tax benefits, and enhance their impact, writes Raghav Bajaj of Khaitan & Co
Tax advisers in Brazil are rising above the country’s notoriously complex tax system to deliver high-quality advisory services, ITR’s exclusive in-house data reveals
ITR’s data has highlighted the US firm’s ambition to become America’s ‘premier’ tax player via a concerted partner recruitment strategy
Jaap Zwaan’s arrival continues a recent streak of A&M Tax investing in the region; in other news, the US and Japan struck a deal that significantly lowered tariff rates
In a world where international tax concepts rely on human activity, Leonard Wagenaar poses existential questions about the future of such ideas when AI is ever-present
Gift this article