Areas of practice

• Trade Marks
• Patents
• Life Sciences
• Know-how and trade secrets
• Models and Designs
• Plant Varieties
• Copyright
• Internet and domain names
• Advertising law

Jacobacci Avvocati deals with all aspects - contractual, pre-litigation and litigation - of industrial property rights and intellectual property. Expertise in contractual matters is matched by experience in enforcing and defending clients and their rights before domestic, foreign and EU judicial authorities, as well as before administrative courts.

We have successfully represented clients in cases that have raised new issues of law and created legal precedent, including in the areas of: cross-border injunctions, criminal and civil liability on the Internet, protection of three-dimensional trademarks and protection of spare parts / components.

Jacobacci Avvocati regularly collaborates in the drafting of legislation in the cosmetic, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical sectors and has significant experience in pharmaceutical, medical device and telecommunications patent litigation.

Our professionals also protect their clients' interests in the field of advertising, assisting clients before the competent private and public authorities.

Last but not least, Jacobacci Avvocati is at the forefront in the protection of personality rights.

Focus on: IP Due Diligence

The Firm is consistently involved in IP Due Diligence activities, with the scope of identifying, assessing and protecting intellectual property rights in the context of corporate transactions, with particular regard to mergers and incorporations: all this to ensure that the assets being acquired, or sold, can be utilized as intended by the parties.

The scope of Jacobacci Avvocati’s services include:

• Analysing agreements between target companies and key personnel working in the areas of intellectual property and information technology
• Verifying the existence, content and scope of agreements of assignments, licences, joint development agreements, IP sharing, etc. in order to assess validity, purpose, duration and limits on use of IP profiles by the acquirer
• Assessing the likely effects of the transaction
• Verifying the existence of any current and/or possible IP disputes, including status, estimate the likelihood of success and conducting a risk assessment of pending or threatened litigation
• Providing an analysis of potential uses of IP assets
• Managing critical issues relating to cross-border transactions
• Providing competition and antitrust assessments
• Advising on information technology matters, including software, websites and social media
• Assessing the data security impacts of the operation
• Evaluating possible transfers of personal data and how they will be implemented and managed

Further, since IP Due Diligence requires a great deal of coordination with issues arising in the area of Data Protection / Privacy, Jacobacci Avvocati also offers:

• Analysis of the impact of the transaction on data security
• Opinions on Privacy considerations
• Evaluations on Data Protection / Privacy policy from both the perspective of the transferor and the transferee
• Secure transfers of databases
• Audits
• Personal data management analysis

• Ordinary litigation
• National arbitration
• International arbitration
• Mediation

The firm’s extensive experience in the field of litigation and dispute resolution - domestic and international, before ordinary courts and arbitration tribunals and in mediation - allows it to protect client rights and interests in all of the firm's areas of specialisation.

In addition, the firm provides continuous assistance to companies involved in litigation abroad, support that is made possible thanks to the presence in the firm of lawyers that are also admitted to practice before foreign jurisdictions - in particular in the United Kingdom and the United States – and established relationships with foreign law firms in all of the major jurisdictions worldwide. This unique perspective allows our professionals to decode the mechanisms of foreign proceedings, and to better support the client in understanding the legal mechanisms, strategies and phases of the case.

Jacobacci Avvocati supports clients in regulatory matters arising during the life cycle of a pharmaceutical product, putting in place effective regulatory and litigation strategies to enable companies to achieve their intended results in an increasingly complex environment.

The firm has considerable experience in the Life Sciences sector and with the related regulatory and legislative framework, which is continuously evolving in response to new technologies. In this practice, our team assists in relation to marketing authorisations for drugs and medical devices, interfacing with both authorities and public administration professionals, and represents clients before the administrative courts.

Jacobacci Avvocati has significant experience in the field of commercial law, operating in all areas that are of interest to companies.

Over the years, the firm has provided support both in the ordinary management of business activities (drafting opinions and contracts; assistance in negotiations, etc.) and in the development and implementation of client strategies, relating to both commercial issues and the management of industrial property assets, which are tailored to the individual needs of the client.

Jacobacci Avvocati also assists clients in collaboration with business partners, both in purely commercial matters and with industrial property matters. This assistance includes advising on the drafting and negotiation of business contracts, including in specialised areas such as:

• Manufacturing, contract work, supply/distribution and licensing
• Research and development (contracts for joint research and development of new technologies, confidentiality, collaboration, industrial property sharing, etc.)
• E-commerce (including contracts for the publication of content and provision of services on the web, collaboration agreements between companies and with search engines, providers, distribution platforms)
• Tourism law (organised tourism contracts, drafting of the documentation required for the marketing of tourist packages and travel packages, conditions for offering tourist services on the web)
• Consumer law (advising on issues relating to the company's relationships with consumers, including related antitrust and unfair commercial practices litigation profiles and the management of relationships with Chambers of Commerce for the definition of standard consumer contracts)

Jacobacci Avvocati assists its clients in negotiating and drafting contracts for:

• Software development and management
• Negotiation and preparation of licences and assignments of proprietary software platforms or packages, computerisation work contracts
• Digitalisation of work contracts, as well as assistance in the drafting of contracts and the processing of personal data and security

The firm has considerable experience in assisting clients in the use of free and open source software, in related legal issues and, where necessary, in litigation.

• Compliance programmes and risk assessment of for areas of potential noncompliance
• Assistance in antitrust and European Commission investigations for restrictive and abusive practices
• Review of contracts and articles of association of consortia and other collective entities
• Notification of concentration transactions
• Complaints and reports to antitrust authorities on restrictive, concerted or abusive practices
• Misleading advertising
• Abuses of economic dependence
• Litigation

Jacobacci Avvocati's international presence has allowed its professionals to develop a high degree of sensitivity to the risks associated with violations of domestic and EU antitrust law. This background allows the firm to assist different types of companies in an efficient and customised manner: from multinational corporations, which are 'at risk' of falling under the axe of the antitrust authorities often due to their size alone, to small/medium-sized companies operating in strongly delimited and characterised markets.

Recognising antitrust law as a fundamental element in the natural state of competition between companies, our firm stands out for its proactive approach both in assisting clients and in litigation, as well as before regulatory authorities.

Our firm assists clients with the management of issues related to the processing of personal data, including assistance both in compliance activities (from the analysis of a company's existing structure to advising on the integration of compliance profiles to the preparation of the necessary documentation, including internal policies and regulations) and in the development of targeted projects (participating in operations carried out by clients, sharing operational strategies and providing assistance in the implementation phase).

In addition, Jacobacci Avvocati provides assistance in proceedings (including preliminary verification and authorisation requests) before the Italian Authority - Garante per la Tutela dei Dati Personali – and/or in the course of inspections carried out by that Authority. This activity is complemented by ongoing advice on contractual and commercial profiles.

• Protection of name and image rights
• Sponsorship and merchandising
• Film and television production contracts
• Product Placement
• Assistance in private financing operations for cinema
• Clearance of rights
• Contests and prize competitions, including on the Internet

Jacobacci Avvocati represents actors and artists working in the entertainment industry, protecting name and image rights, including in litigation, and promoting the use and exploitation of such name and image rights through collaborations and the drafting of relevant agreements. The Firm also assists film and television productions in contracts for the production of movies and television programmes, in the identification of product placement projects, in the structuring of financing operations for the cinema and in the verification of existing copyrights on a work for the purposes of assignment or acquisition, also handling the drafting of contracts relating to each of these activities.

• Copyright
• Contracts
• Clearance of Rights
• Creation and management of foundations, associations and committees
• Import and export of cultural goods
• Declaration of cultural interest
• Authentication and forgery of works
• Restitution of work
• Sponsorship and patronage
• Insurance
• Organisation of artistic events
• Resale rights
• Relationships with SIAE and foreign collecting societies
• Succession issues
• Litigation

Jacobacci Avvocati is very active in the field of art law, in which it assists artists, museums and cultural institutions, collectors, critics, publishers and other parties involved in artistic activities and the art market (insurance companies, transporters, exhibition, fair and event organisers).

The Firm provides assistance in both contentious and non-contentious matters, in Italy and abroad.

By way of example, the firm assists clients with drafting and negotiation of contracts of all types in relation to exhibitions or publications, sponsorship contracts, transfer of works, agreements between artists and galleries or collectors, as well as in the creation of foundations, associations or committees, resolution of questions of authenticity, management of the inheritance of artists or collectors, donation of works to cultural bodies, import or export of works of art, analysis of possible situations of plagiarism or unauthorised reproduction, identification of the owners of rights to be acquired, as well as in all litigation concerning the same matters.