Summary
As a result of the referral made in Article 3(2) of Law No 218/1995 to the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 and subsequent amendments, Italian courts have jurisdiction over an action for a negative declaratory judgment of counterfeiting of industrial products protected by a European Patent for Italy and Germany and lodged by a German company against two United States companies, respectively proprietor and exclusive licensee of the patent not having (even secondary) seats in Italy, because it is in Italy that both European patents could be infringed. It is irrelevant whether the referral to Article 3(2) of Law No 218/1995 is to be construed as made to the Convention or to Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 because under both texts Article 5(3) grounds the competence of the court where the damage occurred and, pursuant to the interpretation of the CJEU, a negative declaratory action aiming at the declaration of the absence of willful or negligent torts liability falls in the scope of this provision.