The grace period to protect the products of industrial design has been increased from 5 years to 13 (until 2014). Article 239 of the Industrial Property Code (Legislative Decree no. August 13, 2010 no. 131) on the protection of copyright granted to industrial design, was indeed modified by Article 22-bis of the d.l. Milleproroghe no. 216/2011 approved by the Constitutional Affairs and Budget committees of the Senate and passed in the Senate on last February 15. By February 20 the provision will come back to the House for the final vote. As known, the story sees as competitors the holders of copyright on the great design classics and some other producers of copies of classic designs. In particular, as a result of the modification Article 239, who had manufactured or marketed in the twelve months prior to April 19, 2001, products made ​​in accordance with the works of industrial design in the public domain, will be not responsible for the violation of copyright carried out by continuing this activity even after that date, limited to the products they manufactured or purchased before April 19, 2001 and those made in the thirteen years since that date - instead of in five years, as in the current version of the Article - provided that such activity has remained within the limits, also quantitative, of prior use. As expected, this modification has provoked harsh reactions from the major associations of owners of copyright on the classics, which have "threatened" to denounce the Italian State to the European Commission for the examination of an infringement procedure.