The Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn got a taste of intellectual property — Italian style — during its monthly meeting in Dyker Heights on Tuesday courtesy of past President Bruno Codispoti. “Bruno is a business attorney focusing in corporate, real estate and intellectual property matters. He is the past president of this wonderful organization and he was also past president of the Columbian Lawyers Association of Rockland,” said President Dean Delianites. “Everyone knows Bruno is a fantastic attorney and a great Italian-American. I could go on and on about his accomplishments. We're proud to have him here to lecture for us.”

As Codispoti pointed out, intellectual property law, while different in the U.S., does have its roots in Italian culture stemming from the renaissance. Italy continues to lead the way in the intellectual property law field due to its robust fashion, automobile and wine industries. “It all started a long time ago when people wanted to protect their inventions, and their art, but it wasn't until recent times that the first patent law was enacted and, of course, it was invented in Venice, Italy because that's where the renaissance was,” Codispoti said.