Intellectual Property ,Competition & Antitrust Law

Since its establishment, the firm has dedicated particular attention to matters related to the creation, preservation and development of corporate value. In this activity it has been particularly involved in the study and implementation of intellectual property protection and competition law.

The firm assists clients:

in the conception and preparation of a company organisation aimed at promoting awareness among operators of the value of intangible assets and company data and the importance of protecting their integrity and secrecy;

in the contracting of relations relating to the protection of intellectual property, whether internal to the company or shared with third parties (e.g. employment or collaboration contracts governing copyright and the right of economic exploitation, engineering contracts, co-design contracts);

• in the registration of distinctive signs and patents, in the protection of copyright and rights in works of art;
• in disputes to be made or undertaken in relation to cases of appropriation of company data or know-how, appropriation of assets, counterfeiting, infringement of property rights;
• in legal proceedings, both civil and criminal, relating to illegal competition, unfair business practices and misleading advertising, class actions, theft of business secrets, violation of IT systems, violation of privacy, crimes of fraud, counterfeiting or pirating material, and the breach of the freedom of industry or trade.

With regard to antitrust matters, Legal Twelve advises and implements compliance and internal audit programmes:

• merger operations;
• abuses of dominant position or in regulated sectors or essential infrastructure (including refusal to contract, predatory pricing, margin squeeze, retroactive rebates or tying practices);
• horizontal or vertical agreements (including joint venture agreements, distribution agreements).

On the same matters, it provides assistance in antitrust proceedings before the Antitrust Authority, the European Commission and other foreign or international competition authorities with the help, in this case, of local consultants.