PATENT | Italian Supreme Court on exploitation of a co-owned patent by a single co-owner

On 18 February 2025, the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) issued its decision on case No. 4131/2025, concerning patent co-ownership. In particular, the case concerned a decision of the Court of Appeal of Venice, which deemed that the individual exploitation of a co-owned patent by a single co-owner is per se legitimate, in that it does not alter the destination of the patent according to the provisions on co-ownership provided for by the Italian Civil Code. The Supreme Court overturned the decision of Court of Appeal’s decision, deeming that the individual exploitation of a co-owned patent by a single co-owner does indeed alter the destination of the patent, in that it reduces the intrinsic value of the patent compared with the value that the patent would have had if exploited collectively by its co-owners. Based on the above reasoning, the Supreme Court ruled that, unless otherwise agreed by the parties involved, a co-owned patent cannot be legitimately exploited individually by a single co-owner.

Newsletter n. 105 – March 2025