Estados Unidos de América

Italia

Marcas de fábrica o de comercio

3. Article 16 of Italy’s Trademark Law sets forth the type of sign that is capable of being protected as a trademark. Please explain whether a colour, as distinguished from “colour combinations or tonalities” is registrable as a trademark under Italian trademark law, as required by TRIPS Article 15.1.

Under Article 16 of Royal Decree No. 929 of 21 June 1942, as replaced by Article 16 of Legislative Decree No. 480 of 4 December 1992, colours as well as any combinations of colours or chromatic tonalities are eligible for registration as trademarks if capable of distinguishing goods or services. Actually, the examples made both in the aforesaid Article 16 and in Article 2 of the First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988, Article 4 of Council Regulation No. 40/94 of 20 December 1993 and Article 15 of the TRIPS Agreement are only meant as an exemplification.