SKY Italia Wins Favorable Ruling in Competition Case

On October 26, Cleary Gottlieb won an important victory for SKY Italia Srl against Publitalia ’80 Concessionaria Pubblicità SpA (part of the Mediaset group) before the Tribunal of Milan. In particular, the Tribunal of Milan upheld the request for interim measures filed by SKY Italia Srl and ordered that Publitalia must refrain from “arbitrarily refusing to accept and continue Sky Italia Srl’s advertising campaigns, with the only aim of benefiting Mediaset Premium services.” The Tribunal affirmed that such conduct is the “expression of an anticompetitive agreement with the affiliated company that provides such services” which - as a whole - qualifies as a boycott in violation of unfair competition rules under article 2598 no. 3 of the Civil Code. The Tribunal also ordered that the decision be published by the claimant and at the expense of the defendant Publitalia Spa in major Italian newspapers.