Italian Antitrust Authority fines Prenotazioni24 Srl for unfair commercial practices and other unlawful conduct
On February 10, 2021, the Italian Antitrust Authority (in Italian, “Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato”, “AGCM”) announced that it had fined Prenotazioni24 S.r.l., an agency that promotes, compares and resells shipping tickets online, for a total of 900 thousand euros.
In particular, according to the Authority, the agency implemented various unfair commercial practices, as well as unlawful conduct relating to how the company is presented and the characteristics of the services offered.
Nevertheless, the Authority has also announced that, during the investigation, Prenotazioni24 has already implemented suitable measures to prevent further conduct.
Source: Italian Antitrust Authority’s official website
The Italian Communications Guarantee Authority issues three measures against DAZN Italy
With a press release of January 20, 2021, the Italian Communications Guarantee Authority (in Italian, “Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni”, “AGCOM”) announced that it has issued three measures against DAZN Italia for the quality of service offered, consumer protection and audience ratings.
More specifically, the first measure concerned the definition of quality parameters for the use of the live streaming service of the matches: parameters and criteria were defined for the compensation to be paid in case of inefficiency.
With the second measure, the Authority initiated a sanctioning procedure against the Company for not complying with the resolution of October 7, 2021, with which AGCOM had ordered to adopt a more effective customer care service.
Finally, the third measure concluded a procedure initiated by the Authority on September 9, regarding verification of the methodology for measuring audience ratings for programs broadcast by the Company.
Source: Italian Communications Guarantee Authority’s official website
The Italian Antitrust Authority considers the clauses of the terms of service for TikTok users to be unfair
The AGCM has concluded an investigation against TikTok Technology Limited, regarding the assessment of the clauses of the “Terms of Service for users resident in the EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom” published by the Company on its platform.
In particular, with the termination of the proceeding on January 18, 2021, the Authority deemed these clauses to be unfair, as determining a significant lack of balance in contractual rights and obligations against the consumer, as well as being ambiguously formulated and unclear for young TikTok users.
The clauses concern the unilateral modification of the conditions and services by the Company, the termination of the contract, the renunciation by users of their rights to the content published on the platform, the limitations of liability in favour of the Company, as well as the determination of the applicable law and the competent court.
Source: Italian Antitrust Authority’s official website
The Italian Supreme Court once again pronounces on secondary meaning
With decision no. 53/2022, adopted on January 4, 2022, the Italian Supreme Court has ruled on the so-called secondary meaning.
In particular, the Supreme Court, rejecting the appeal of a well-known pasta factory in Italy, has clarified that such phenomenon occurs whenever a sign, originally lacking in distinctiveness due to generality, mere descriptiveness or lack of originality, acquires such qualities as a consequence of the consolidation of its use on the market, thus entitling the owner of the trademark to act in counterfeit.
The Court has also clarified that the burden of proof, in this case, should not be the existence of advertising investments per se, but the reputation acquired by the sign.
Italian Communications Guarantee Authority issues a positive opinion for TIM’s co-investment offer on very high-capacity networks
During the meeting held on January 3, 2022, the AGCOM by a majority of its members, deemed TIM S.p.A.’s co-investment offer for the construction of new very high-capacity networks (VHC) to be compliant with Article 76 of the European Electronic Communications Code, and initiated a public consultation on the consequent regulatory treatment of the new network covered by the offer.
The measure is quite significant, since it is the first application of the provisions of the above-mentioned Code regarding co-investment.
The public consultation will be useful in order to acquire the market’s point of view on the proposed regulatory treatment, before proceeding with notification of the draft measure to the European Commission.
