“Buying counterfeit products is never a good deal”: MISE promotes 7th Anti-Counterfeiting Week
The Ministry of Economic Development (in Italian “Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico”, “MiSE”) promoted the 7th Anti-Counterfeiting Week, which took place from 3th to 7th of October 2022.
The campaign, with the slogan “Buying counterfeit products is never a good deal”, aimed at raising awareness among citizens and businesses on the phenomena of counterfeiting and on the identification of new prevention measures, thanks to the organisation of different workshops in which e-commerce platforms were involved.
Source: Ministry of Economic Development’s official website
Copyright: the Italian Supreme Court rules on the protection of a necklace collection
In its ruling No. 30289 of 2022, the Supreme Court ruled on copyright issues with regard to the suspected unlawful and abusive reproduction and dissemination of a necklace collection.
The Supreme Court, in accordance with the ruling of the Court of Appeal, ruled that the necklace collection is not a protected work under Italian copyright law due to the lack of the requirements of creativity, novelty, set forth in Article 2, No. 10 of the Copyright Law No. 633 of 1941 (“LDA”).
Italian Communications Guarantee Authority pronounces on the exemption to the prohibition of sublicensing to third parties on the granting of audiovisual rights of sports competitions
With Resolution No. 399/22/CONS of September 21, 2022, the Italian Communications Guarantee Authority (in italian “Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni”, “AGCOM”) granted the petition for an exemption to the prohibition on sub-licensing to third parties, pursuant to Article 19, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree No. 9 of January 9, 2008, of Audiovisual Rights related to the Serie A Championship, Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup events, referred to in the package called “PAY.”
The AGCOM ruled that the exemption applies exclusively to the sub-licensing by the “Lega Società di Pallacanestro Serie A” concerning the rights of the “PAY” package, enforcing the prohibition of further sub-licensing of the aforementioned rights.
Source: Italian Communications Guarantee Authority’s official website
Italian Antitrust Authority starts a new investigation against two electricity distribution companies
The Italian Antitrust Authority (in italian, “Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato”, “AGCM”) started an preliminary investigation proceeding against two electricity distribution companies in order to investigate the rejection of two-year statute of limitations claims filed by users for late invoicing of electricity and gas consumption.
The Authority began conducting inspections at the companies’ offices and at a third company, cooperating with judicial authorities.
Source: Italian Antitrust Authority’s official website
Electricity and gas contract amendments: the Italian Antitrust Authority and Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment intervene
The Presidents of the AGCM and Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment (in italian, “Autorità di Regolazione per Energia, Reti e Ambienti”, “ARERA”) organised a meeting on Oct. 13, 2022, in order to clarify the scope of application regarding “Unilateral amendments to electricity and gas contracts,” including with reference to Article 3 of Decree Law No. 115 of 2022, known as “Aid bis” (in italian, “Aiuto bis”).
Specifically, the Decree Law provides for urgent measures in the areas of energy, water emergency, social and industrial policies, including the suspension of contract clauses that allow unilateral amendments to contracts until April 30, 2023. The Authorities, at the aforementioned meeting, discussed different issues in detail, including automatic evolutions of agreements, renewal of economic terms.
Source: Italian Antitrust Authority’s official website
Abuse of dominant position: the Italian Antitrust Authority initiates a new investigation
The AGCM initiated investigative proceedings against Europe’s leading concessionaires for the construction and management of toll motorways for abuse of a dominant position, in violation of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”).
Specifically, following a complaint, the Authority launched an investigation into the possible obstacle and consequent exclusion of new suppliers’ entry into the electronic toll collection market.
