Rivista del Diritto Commerciale e del diritto generale delle Obbligazioni

Abstract: Lights and shadows of intellectual property law: from Vivante to Asquini. And a renaissance – Intellectual property was a widely dealt -with subject-matter in the first ‘era’ of the Rivista – up to the mid-thirties of XX century, when it was effectively guided by the founders Angelo Sraffa and Cesare Vivante. In the subsequent period, when the guide passed on to Alberto Asquini and his colleagues Mossa and Valeri, intellectual property rapidly became quite marginal, some years absent tout court, in the journal’s doctrinal panorama. The article emphasizes how in the first period contributions on IP issues were largely authored by Jewish jurists, whose names ‘disappeared’ in the second period, when Asquini, new spiritus rector of the Rivista, highly authoritative jurist and fervent supporter of the fascist regime, strongly oriented Commerciale towards the dominant “corporatist” Zeitgeist : one opposite to the liberal vision of ‘those’ authors of the Sraffa-Vivante era. IP’s revival occurred after WW II’s end, in the ‘50s, under the cultural influence of Tullio Ascarelli, and particularly of Adriano Vanzetti. The latter’s essays on trade-marks (and misleading advertising) infused new depth into the academic studies on intellectual property rights. His interpretative and juris political approach widely influenced many scholars and Judges – including, for several years, the Italian Supreme Court.  

Sommario: 1. Fiorisce il diritto industriale nell’era Sraffa-Vivante… – 2… e appassisce nell’era Asquini. – 3 Possibili, e irriverenti, spiegazioni del fatto. – 4. La rinascita ‘industrialistica’ post-bellica: la lezione scientifica, e giuspolitica, di Adriano Vanzetti – 5. Residui di cultura corporativa, dispersi dalla rinnovata accademia, e dalla S.C. di Giuseppe M. Berruti.  

Keywords: industrial property — competition law — law history.