Made in Italy: The Latest Developments

The recent history of the Made in Italy rules

Article 17(4) of the July law (99/2009) imposed the criminal sanctions set forth in Article 517 of the Penal Code on “the use of the trademarks of Italian companies on goods or products not originating in Italy, in compliance with the ruling on the origin of goods without any precise indication, in clear writing, of their country of origin or of the place of manufacture or production, or any other indication sufficient to avoid any error whatsoever on the effective  foreign origin of the same”.

Prior to the July law Article 517 of the Penal Code only sanctioned the “Made in Italy” wording affixed to products and goods not originating in Italy. The significance of the July law was to impose on Italian trademark holders the obligation to indicate the country of origin of any goods bearing an Italian trademark. In other words if a Todds or an Armani or a Gucci product bearing the Italian trademark was not manufactured in Italy, then the true country of origin would have to be indicated. Failure to comply with the law was subject to severe penalties.

The July law is a technical regulation for the purposes of EU law and was subject to the notification requirements of Directive 83/189 (amended by Directive 94/38). The Court of Justice has held that the failure to notify technical regulations (or to follow the prope procedures) nullifies the rule. Furthermore, obligatory labelling was potentially in conflict with the EU principles of the free movement of goods on the ground of discrimination in favour of goods from other Member States. This sort of reverse discrimination has been condemned repeatedly by the Court of Justice.