European Patent
The European Patent Convention, signed in Munich on 5 October 1973, allows every citizen or resident of a Member State to use a single European procedure for the granting of patents, on the basis of a homogeneous body of fundamental patent laws. The updated list of countries in which to validate the European patent can be found at the following link: http://www.epo.org/about-us/organisation/member-states.html.
Once the national validation procedure has been completed in the designated countries, the European patent confers on its holder the same rights as a national patent obtained in the designated countries.
How to obtain a European patent
Any applicant can file a European patent application directly at the European Patent Office by fax, post or online via the European Patent Office system. All instructions on how to file can be found at the following link: https://www.epo.org/applying/european/filing.html.It is also possible for Italian residents to deliver or send the application, but only in paper form, through a postal service that attests its receipt, to the Chamber of Commerce of Rome (adrress: Viale Oceano Indiano, 19, 00144 Rome).
In the case of a postal deposit at the Chamber of Commerce of Rome, in order to receive a copy of the filing report of the European patent application (sheet 8 of the 1001 form) by fax or by postal service, the applicant must attach in the application the receipt of a payment of € 40 to the current account 33692005 in the name of the Chamber of Commerce of Rome or a bank transfer with the following coordinates:
IBAN: IT67C076010320000000033692005
BIC/SWIFT Code: BPPIITRRXXX
All the details for filing a European patent application at the Italian office can be found in the file "Instructions for filing a European patent application at the European office".
All forms relating to a European patent application can be found at the following link: https://www.epo.org/applying/forms/forms.html.
The list of fees for filing or maintaining a European patent can be found at the following link: https://www.epo.org/applying/fees/fees.html.
How to protect a European patent in Italy
It is possible, once a European patent is made available to the public or granted, to obtain protection that has effect in Italy. The list and instructions of the various types of protection of a European patent in Italy can be found in the file: "Instructions for the protection of a European patent in Italy".