The international law firm Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners announces the hire of IP Partner Massimo Sterpi. Massimo’s arrival will further strengthen the firm’s Intellectual Property IT and Media department. Massimo joins the firm with a five associate team (Francesca Fosson, Angela Tasillo, Damiana Masi, Luigia Bersani, Andrea Colantuoni), taking responsibility for the Rome-based IP team.
Massimo, who previously worked at boutique firm Jacobacci, is considered to be one the most respected IP experts in Italy, with strong experience in both transactional matters and litigation concerning trademarks, designs, copyright and patents. During his career, he has been involved in major deals in the industrial property rights area, as well as in complex issues related to new technologies and media. He has litigated hundreds of infringement cases, most involving famous brands, designs, patents and copyrights, both before national and overseas courts, including the European Court of Justice.
He has also developed a unique and internationally well-known practice in art law, representing world famous artists, collectors and institutions.
Massimo graduated in law with honours from the University of Turin in 1989 and obtained a Post-graduate Diploma from King's College, London, in 2000. He was admitted to the Italian Bar in 1996 and to the Supreme Court, Italy, in 2008. Massimo has also edited or contributed to a number of publications on IP and art law topics, mostly in foreign languages and is a frequent speaker in domestic and international conferences.
Massimo is included in WIPO's IP Arbitration and Mediation Center's List of Neutrals, as well as in WIPO's List of Art and Cultural Heritage Neutrals. He was President of the International Bar Association’s Committee on Art, Heritage Law and Cultural Institutions and is the current vice-President of the UIA‘s (Union Internationale des Avocats) Art Law Committee.
He is also the Italian member of the editorial board of "European Copyright and Design Reports" published by Sweet & Maxwell; a member of the Advisory Board of the Venice Peggy Guggenheim Collection; a member of Fondazione Prada’s Board of Directors, of the US Friends of MAXXI Foundation, and of the Italy-USA Relations Council.
“We are very pleased to have Massimo and his team joining us”, says Antonio Auricchio, Co-Managing Partner at Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners. “We have once again demonstrated our ability to attract professionals of the highest calibre. We are confident this new hire will further enhance our ability to provide our clients with top quality service levels”.
“With Massimo and his team we have further strengthened our powerful group of Intellectual Property, IT and Media dedicated lawyers”, adds Nino Di Bella, Head of IP Department. “With its 20 professionals, 4 of whom are Partners, our Department is one of the largest and most well-established amongst Italian full-service firms. We are fully equipped to cover all Industrial Law issues, principally Intellectual Property, IT, and Media”.
“Intellectual property skills may be easily found in boutique firms, but it is much more difficult to find them in the larger structured firms, despite being more and more demanded by the market”, says Massimo Sterpi. “My enthusiasm in joining GOP lies in becoming part of a large organization full of excellent professionals. My aim is to further enrich it in an economic scenario where a company’s’ value is increasingly more linked to its Intellectual Property assets and their commercial exploitation”.