Italian law firm Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners has recruited a team of IP lawyers from Studio Jacobacci led by high profile IP partner Massimo Sterpi. Mr Sterpi, who will head up the firm's IP division in Rome, is one of the most respected IP lawyers in Italy. He joins the firm's IP, IT and media department with a group of five associates - Francesca Fosson, Angela Tasillo, Damiana Masi, Luigia Bersani and Andrea Colantuoni. Mr Sterpi is internationally recognised in the field of art law, representing artists, institutions and collectors of world renown. He is on the WIPO list of mediators and arbitrators in IP, as well as the WIPO list of arbitrators in arts and cultural heritage issues. He has been also chairman of the IBA Commission for Art Law, Cultural Institutions and Artistic Heritage and is currently Vice-President of the UIA's Committee on the Right of Art. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, on the board of directors of the Prada Foundation, the US Friends of MAXXI Foundation and on the Council for Italian-US Relations.

Panorama

'We are very pleased to see Massimo and his team joining,' says Antonio Auricchio, co-managing partner of Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners. 'The Studio confirms once again its ability to attract standing professionals. We are confident that this new entry will further enrich our ability to provide our customers with the highest levels of quality.' Head of the department Nino Di Bella added: 'With the arrival of Massimo and his team we further strengthen our already large group of professionals dedicated to IP, IT and Media. With its 20 professionals, including 4 members, our department is one of the largest and most consolidated in the panorama of full-service studies in Italy and is able to cover all sectors of industrial law, in particular, IP, IT and Media.'

Professionalism

Mr Sterpi said of the move:  'My enthusiasm for joining GOP is to become part of a large and truly integrated organisation of excellent professionals, with the aim of further enriching it with the professionalism and experience of myself and my collaborators, in an economic scenario in which the value of companies is increasingly linked to their intellectual property.'