CBM & Partners provides legal advice to Italian and foreign companies on unfair commercial practices (“UCP”) and misleading advertising, a rapidly expanding area of law, given the growing attention of EU and national legislators and consumer protection authorities.
Unfair commercial practices are, in fact, any act, omission, conduct or statement, including the advertising and marketing of products or services, made by a person acting in the course of his commercial or industrial activity, in relation to the promotion, sale or supply of a product or service, and which is (even potentially) likely to induce the consumer to make a commercial decision that he would not otherwise have taken or to mislead him as to the scope of his rights.
In Italy, the Italian Competition Authority is responsible for this matter. Since 2007, when the new regulations came into force, the Authority has issued daily sanctions against companies that have put in place UCP, prohibiting unfair practices and imposing fines. The pecuniary sanction foreseen for UCP ranges from € 5000 to € 5 million.
Our Firm has been able to combine the commercial needs of companies with respect for consumer rights, allowing our clients to transform compliance and transparency into business opportunities and thus achieving a leading position in the market, thanks to the constant dialogue with the relevant EU and national institutions.
In order to neutralize the risk of unfair business practices, we offer our clients assistance, namely in the following activities:
- Audit of the General Terms and Conditions of Business, of all commercial and advertising communications;
- Drafting of the General Conditions of Contract and/or revision of existing ones;
- Drafting of commercial and/or informative and/or advertising communications (e.g.: newsletters, DEM, Google AD, leaflets, television and radio commercials, flyers, banners, advertising for apps, etc.);
- Structuring of advertising campaigns, preparing the appropriate procedures and drafting the related written documentation;
- Staff training, with particular attention to sales staff, the Call Centre and Customer Care;
- Drafting of regulations relating to prize events;
- Management of any consumers and/or consumer associations disputes;
- Assistance in proceedings for unfair commercial practices before the competent authority;
- Appeal of measures issued by the Competition Authority before judicial authorities;
- Liaison with the EU and national competent authorities.
Who we serve
- Companies that operate – online and offline – in the sale of products and/or in the provision of services
- Marketplaces
- Pharmacies or parapharmacies selling products online
- Developers of apps and Artificial Intelligence technologies
- IoT Providers
- Comparators
- Promoters of prize-winning events
- Search engines