VZCZCXRO2109
RR RUEHFL RUEHNP
DE RUEHRO #0535/01 1321308
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121308Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2067
INFO RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 3626
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 0038
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 3815
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000535 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR JENNIFER CHOE GROVES, LESLIE YANG, 
CHRISTOPHER WILSON 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO EEB/TPP/IPE FOR JOELLEN URBAN, TIMOTHY MCGOWAN, 
ROBERT WATTS 
DEPT OF COMMERCE FOR SUSAN WILSON 
DHS PLEASE PASS TO ICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IT KIPR ETRD ECON EINT
SUBJECT: NEW ITALIAN DIRECTORATE FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The Italian government has reorganized its patent 
and trademark offices, creating a General Directorate for 
Intellectual Property.  The new Directorate will be responsible for 
all domestic anti-counterfeiting action and will, in addition, 
coordinate the action of all agencies with IPR-related 
responsibilities.   Econoffs met recently with the new Director 
General who outlined her plans for the office and committed to 
taking on new initiatives to protect and promote intellectual 
property rights. End Summary 
 
¶2. (U) A major reorganization of the Ministry of Economic 
Development has transformed the Italian Patent and trademark office 
into a general directorate for Intellectual Property.  The new 
directorate maintains its traditional patent and trademark 
registration responsibilities and has also acquired all the 
functions previously assigned to the Anti-Counterfeiting High 
Commissioner.  (The High Commissioner's office was abolished in 
2008, officially as a money-saving measure, but also possibly 
because of the limited effectiveness of the office.) 
 
¶3. (U) The Directorate will now be responsible for all domestic 
anti-counterfeiting action and sensitization activities, which will 
include proposing legislation, conducting sensitization and 
information campaigns, and working with industry to help it maximize 
the value of innovation.  The directorate has been given the means 
and authority to coordinate the activities of all public sector 
agencies with IPR-related responsibilities.  Italy has previously 
lacked an effective coordinating entity, which has made IPR 
protection a bureaucratic challenge, given the number of Italian 
agencies which work on the issue.   The Directorate will also 
collaborate closely with Italian law enforcement agencies as well as 
with the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
in the context of the GOI's international IPR activities.  A finance 
police (Guardia di Finanza) Colonel, Marco Fanti,  has been assigned 
to head the Directorate's anti-counterfeiting division. 
 
¶4. (U) Loredana Gulino, has emerged from the ranks of the Ministry 
to head the Directorate.  She was previously head of general affairs 
and personnel.  Though she has limited experience in the field of 
IPR, she appears extremely energetic and seems to have taken on the 
job with interest and enthusiasm.  At a recent meeting she told 
Econoffs that merging the functions of the former High Commissioner 
into those of the IPTO will allow the office to effectively and 
authoritatively coordinate among the numerous Italian agencies with 
separate responsibilities for IPR protection.  In addition, the new 
structure will clearly define roles among those entities:  The 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs will take the lead on foreign policy and 
international aspects of IPR, and the Prime Minister's Office, and 
to some extent the Ministry of Culture, will work on copyright 
issues. 
 
¶5. (U) Gulino said the Directorate's activities in direct support of 
industry will focus on design, trademarks and patents, but its 
sensitization and prevention efforts will be geared to promoting a 
wholly rounded approach to IPR protection, including copyright.  It 
will also participate in the overall GOI IPR decision making process 
which includes international aspects of IPR protection and copyright 
matters. 
 
¶6. (U) Gulino said she has already created two working groups on IPR 
protection: one for the private sector and a second composed of 
public administration representatives.  Goals of the former are to 
understand industry needs and also to educate industry on the 
possibilities and the value of IP.  Gulino said that much of Italy's 
industrial sector is represented by small and medium companies which 
are very often not fully aware of the economic value of IP or 
capable of maximizing the potential of their innovations.  Another 
area of interest is combating the sale of counterfeit goods over the 
Internet.  The Directorate is creating a web site for its 
anti-counterfeiting activities (still largely under construction) 
and intends to be active in public sensitization campaigns.  It has 
already launched a public communications campaign on national 
television.  The ad "stars" Italy's world champion national football 
team coach Marcello Lippi, who delivers a message against fake 
products.  The Italian football team's appeal to the public is 
significant.  Col. Fanti told us that he believes this is a 
breakthrough in anti-counterfeiting sensitization and that the 
message will be heard by the public.  He also indicated that the 
Ministry intends to more specifically focus the targets of its 
campaigns, as he believes that prevention is possibly more important 
than repression in the field of IPR protection. 
 
ROME 00000535  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) Gulino, who solicited the meeting, underscored her interest 
in maintaining and strengthening  the collaboration established with 
the USG over the recent past (Embassy and IPTO have collaborated and 
co-sponsored a series of joint seminars aimed at promoting IPR 
protection in Italy.  The IPTO was the principal Italian negotiating 
counterpart in the development of the 2002 bilateral agreement on 
IPR and Innovation cooperation). 
 
- - - - - - - - - - 
Comment 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8. (U) Post views the consolidation of the High Commissioner and 
Patent and Trademark Office functions as a potentially positive 
development.  This could lead to a more streamlined coordination of 
domestic anti-counterfeiting activities and a better and clearer 
coordination of overall GOI IPR activities.  Moreover, the new 
structure has the full authority of the Minister behind it, 
something the High Commissioner's Office lacked.  The Minister of 
Economic Development is a heavyweight figure in Italy's current 
government.   The Directorate operates within the Ministry's 
Department for Development and Internationalization of Enterprises, 
and Gulino reports to the Minister through the Head of the 
Department.  The former High Commissioner was a semi-independent 
agency under the general coordination of the Ministry, with a very 
loosely defined mandate and very limited authority. Gulino indicated 
that she is interested in taking the lead in various initiatives 
previously organized entirely by the Embassy (for example, 
magistrate training/sensitization off-sites).  If this comes to pass 
it would send a strong signal that GOI is becoming more committed to 
IPR protection. 
DIBBLE