Italian Antitrust Authority fines Sky Italia for misleading information
On March 11, 2022, the Italian Antitrust Authority (in Italian, “Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato”, “AGCM”) announced that it had concluded an investigation against the company Sky Italia S.r.l. with the imposition of a fine of one million euros, for the dissemination of misleading information regarding the awarding of soccer rights on Serie A championship matches.
In particular, according to the Authority, in the spring of 2021 the Company provided inaccurate information, in violation of Article 21 of the Consumer Code, regarding the use of the “Sky Calcio” package.
Source: Italian Antitrust Authority’s official website
The Italian Ministry of Economic Development publishes exceptional temporary measures for the labeling of food products
In view of the suspension of supply of certain raw materials from Ukraine, on March 11 the Ministry of Economic Development (in Italian, “Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico”, “MISE”) published a measure allowing the Italian food industry to make exceptional use of the labels and packaging already in its possession.
The intervention was necessary to ensure continuity in production and to avoid an increase in costs to the detriment of consumers, as reported by the major business associations of the agro-food sector and large-scale retail trade.
Source: Italian Ministry for economic development’s official website
The Italian Antitrust Authority fines Crédit Agricole for unfair commercial practices
The AGCM announced that an administrative sanction of 1 million euros had been imposed on Crédit Agricole Italia S.p.A. for having implemented unfair commercial practices aimed at unduly influencing consumers when choosing the type of bank transfer to be used (specifically, the instant transfer, which is more expensive than the ordinary one).
In particular, the customer who intended to make an online transfer through the bank’s app read, next to the instant transfer option, the word “Suggested”. Moreover, the more expensive payment solution continued to be proposed even if the ordinary method was chosen.
Source: Italian Antitrust Authority’s official website
The Italian Patent and Trademark Office publishes the “Report on anti-counterfeiting policies 2020-2021”
The Italian Patent and Trademark Office (in Italian, “Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi”, “UIBM”) published, on its institutional website, the “Report on anti-counterfeiting policies 2020-2021”.
The document outlines the initiatives carried out during the reporting period to prevent and fight infringements of industrial property rights on the national territory and online, as well as the main results achieved during this two-year period of activity.
Source: Italian Patent and Trademark Office’s official website
Cryptocurrencies: the Ministry of Economy and Finance establishes at the Italian agent and broker body a special section for providers of virtual currency and digital wallet services
The Decree dated January 13, 2022 issued by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (in Italian, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, “MEF”), which establishes the procedures by which providers of services relating to the use of virtual currency and providers of digital wallet services will be required to communicate their activities to the italian agent and broker body (in Italian, Organismo Agenti e Mediatori, “OAM”), has recently come into force.
The Decree subordinates the exercise of services relating to the use of virtual currency and digital portfolio services to subjects who are registered in the special section of the public register, also providing for the procedures for the establishment of said register.
