Trademark protection at Mido 2004

Mido is back with an anti-counterfeiting service again this year. We have interviewed Daniela Mainini, lawyer from Studio Mainini & Associati and President of Anti-counterfeiting Study Center, about details and reasons of the service.

'Way back in 1995, Mido began organizing a trademark and patent protection service for its exhibitors because it was fully aware of the fact that an international exhibition of this scope needs a service to safeguard the legal rights of trademark and patent holders', explains Mrs Mainini. 'While everybody knows that displaying at an exhibition is a great opportunity for single companies, maximum protection must also be provided for the innovative ideas and know-how contained in each company mark. Respectable exhibitors need immediate information and protection during the exhibition: this generated the idea to create an anti-counterfeiting service that would cater to the needs of individual users, who must often find their own way around a highly specialized field'.

'All kinds of counterfeiting: from trademark and patent counterfeiting, to models and industrial design. It's normal moreover, for counterfeiting to go hand in hand with the success of a product that has developed from being an indispensable visual aid to a highly innovative article in terms of aesthetics and design'.

But what anti-counterfeiting service does Mido offer its exhibitors? 'Mido offers exhibitors a dual service', Mainini answers. 'First, a specialized consulting service for out-of-court settlement on industrial and intellectual property that may be requested by exhibitors wishing to know about current regulations. Mido also offers the possibility of carrying out official investigations, in order to determine any real cases of violation during the exhibition. For the entire duration of the exhibition, the service will ensure the presence of experts. In the event of counterfeiting being ascertained, the exhibitor will be invited and/or instructed to remove counterfeited products from his stand by the Mido Management, which reserves the right to exclude the counterfeiter from future exhibitions. In more serious cases, the judicial authorities may be invited to take action, in order to obtain the seizure of the counterfeit products, by filing a complaint at the District Attorney's Office in Milan', she concludes.