The “Livio Hook”, with commercial name ART.65LIV, is a shaped wire hook made of steel used for locking vineyard support posts. Well-known and widely used in viticulture and vineyard installation systems, it was created to meet the need for extremely strong holding power combined with quick and easy application.

Its tenacity prevents the support posts from shifting relative to the row structure, even under significant mechanical stress.

The ease of application results in savings in labor hours, thus reducing vineyard construction costs.

Available for all types of support posts on the market, it features a compact design that prevents vine shoots from getting caught and has no protruding ends.

The Patent

Conceived and patented by Mollificio Bortolussi s.r.l., the company owning the Vignetinox brand, it faced challenges from third parties who opposed the European patent. On April 23, 2021, the Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office definitively established the validity of the invention, thus confirming Vignetinox’s patent ownership.

Other challenges arise from its similarity to a single-leg hook used in construction, which however has a very weak hold compared to the “Livio Hook”. Therefore, it is absolutely unsuitable for securing vineyard support posts subject to mechanized operations such as: harvesting, shoot removal, pre-pruning, trellising, etc. In construction, on the other hand, the hold is provided by concrete, and the single-leg hook is only used for positioning reinforcement bars until the concrete is poured. Two completely different worlds, two completely different needs, therefore two totally different holding requirements – first of its kind, an invention without precedent.