In judgment no. 25273 of 12 April-26 June 2012, the Supreme Criminal Court has denied the criminal protection pursuant to Art. 473 of the Criminal Code ("Counterfeiting, alteration or use of distinctive signs of intellectual or industrial products") to a non-registered trademark, stating that such protection would require the prior registration of said trademark. The case concerned the infringement sanctioned ex. Art. 473 of the Criminal Code (c.p.), of the well-known sign in the shape of heart "Sweet Years", used for clothing without the permission of the owner, but the owner at the time had not yet registered said sign. Taking into consideration this non-registration, the Supreme Court has reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal of Bari, adhering to the setting of the Court of First Instance which had found not to exist the offense under Article. 473 c.p.. The decision of the Supreme Court is based on the interpretation of paragraph 3 of Article. 473 c.p.: because the offenses provided for by that provision are expressly punished by law to protect the public trust, co. 3 of Art. 473 c.p. "must be interpreted as meaning that, for the configurability of the crimes (...), it is required that the trademark has been registered or patented according to the law" and that the registration has been completed. The simply filing of the registration’s application is not sufficient.