One of the novelties provided by the Legislative Decree which amends the Italian Industrial Property Code (IPC), currently under the examination of the Council of State (and therefore not yet in force), concerns the ownership of patent rights relating to inventions of researchers of Universities and public research corporations. In fact the new art. 65 IPC, equalizing the researcher to an employee of a private company, provides that the ownership of patent rights passes from researchers to Universities or to public research corporations. However the researcher will be allowed to file the patent application in his own name if the University or the public research corporation, for which he works, has not done so within six months since the communication of the invention. Furthermore if the University or the public research corporation, once the patent has been filed, decides to sell it, the researcher will have the pre-emption right to purchase the patent. Finally, if the University or the public research corporation has exercised its right to apply for patent, but does not wish to obtain, for the same invention, patents abroad, it shall notify this decision to the researcher. The researcher automatically acquires the right to file patent applications in his own name (exercising the right of priority) in foreign countries for which the University or the public research corporations does not wish to obtain patents.