Court Court of First Instance Judge Full Bio Alima Zana has worked since 1999 as a civil judge at the Tribunal of Milan, where she has been assigned to the Court of First Instance for the Enterprises. She is specialised in IP law and competition law and has acted as rapporteur in many cases related to both European and National Patents. Alima has decided on both infringement and nullity cases, and therefore she has been involved in both types of cases, covering the pre-trial procedures and proceedings on the merit. She has been involved in cases concerning, for instance, the following matters: - the interplay between the legitimacy of the monopoly granted by the patent and the freedom of competition, particularly when the patent represents an essential-facility and raises the issue of royalties frand; - patent infringement, contributory infringement, and the balance of the different conflicting interests when applying penalties; - the relationship between proceedings before national Courts and proceedings before European offices, in particular following amendments of the European patent before the EPO or the Court of Appeal; - the protection of the third parties in damages actions, when the patent is amended or limited; - the coordination between the different decisions of national judges concerning the same European patent, with a focus on cross-border effects; - pharmaceutical patents and the Supplementary Protection Certificate.
Court Court of First Instance Judge Full Bio Alima Zana has worked since 1999 as a civil judge at the Tribunal of Milan, where she has been assigned to the Court of First Instance for the Enterprises. She is specialised in IP law and competition law and has acted as rapporteur in many cases related to both European and National Patents. Alima has decided on both infringement and nullity cases, and therefore she has been involved in both types of cases, covering the pre-trial procedures and proceedings on the merit. She has been involved in cases concerning, for instance, the following matters: - the interplay between the legitimacy of the monopoly granted by the patent and the freedom of competition, particularly when the patent represents an essential-facility and raises the issue of royalties frand; - patent infringement, contributory infringement, and the balance of the different conflicting interests when applying penalties; - the relationship between proceedings before national Courts and proceedings before European offices, in particular following amendments of the European patent before the EPO or the Court of Appeal; - the protection of the third parties in damages actions, when the patent is amended or limited; - the coordination between the different decisions of national judges concerning the same European patent, with a focus on cross-border effects; - pharmaceutical patents and the Supplementary Protection Certificate.