Unfair Competition Investigations

The Alpine Investigation Agency has been carrying out investigations for companies for over 30 years. Specifically, investigative activities aimed at ascertaining and documenting activities attributable to Unfair Competition. This activity is carried out not only through conventional investigation methods but also through: dynamic visual monitoring (so-called shadowing), the use of GPS satellite systems, Osint-based intelligence methods and much more.

With these assumptions, investigations are initiated, the outcome of which is always detailed in investigative reports that can be produced in court together, when requested, with the sworn testimony of our agents.

Unfair Competition refers to unfair business practices that aim to harm competitors and gain an unfair advantage in the market. In Italy it is mainly governed by the Consumer Code (Legislative Decree no. 206/2005) and the Civil Code, which establish rules and regulations to ensure that companies compete fairly and honestly, avoiding misconduct that could compromise economic relationships. The Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) monitors and applies the laws on unfair competition to guarantee an adequate environment and promote free competition between companies. Companies can submit complaints and reports if they believe they are victims of unfair practices by competitors.

Starting an investigation for Unfair Competition allows you to ascertain any illegal behavior carried out by companies, collaborators, partners, former employees, etc. The art. 2598 of the Civil Code establishes that:

"Without prejudice to the provisions concerning the protection of distinctive signs and patent rights, anyone who:

1) uses names or distinctive signs capable of producing confusion with the names or distinctive signs legitimately used by others, or slavishly imitates the products of a competitor, or carries out by any other means acts capable of creating confusion with the products and with the activity of a competitor;

2) disseminates news and praise about a competitor's products and activities, which could lead to their discredit, or appropriates the merits of a competitor's products or company(2);

3) makes use, directly or indirectly, of any other means that does not comply with the principles of professional correctness and is likely to damage another's company."

Article 2600 of the Civil Code refers to the compensation due:

"If the acts of unfair competition are committed maliciously or negligently, the perpetrator is required to pay damages.

In this case, the publication of the sentence may be ordered."

Once the acts of competition have been ascertained, guilt is presumed."

Relying on an Investigation Agency means being able to ascertain illicit behaviour, at the end of the investigations an Investigative Report will be drawn up which can be produced in Court.

Investigations for Unfair Competition can correspond to different cases, below we indicate some acts of unfair competition:

Article 2105 of the Civil Code establishes the obligation of loyalty: "The worker must use the diligence required by the nature of the service due, by the interest of the company and by the superior interest of national production" this translates into the prohibition of managing business on its own account or in agreement with third parties in competition with the employing company.

It is legitimate to contact an Investigation Agency in order to document acts of Unfair Competition. The Court of Cassation also expressed its opinion on the matter with Sentence no. 20228 of 4 September 2013 in which he states:

“illicit competition due to lack of compliance with the principles of correctness can never derive from the mere observation of a transfer of collaborators (so-called transfer of employees) from one company to another competitor, nor from the negotiation that an entrepreneur has with the collaborator of the competitor, legitimate activities as an expression of the principles of the free movement of labor and freedom of economic initiative."

In this case it is therefore essential to identify the illicit requirements referred to in Art 2598 in the cancellation activity. In fact, unfair competition occurs when the cancellation is carried out in the absence of the principle of professional correctness. The Court of Cassation addressed this issue again through Sentence no. 94 of 4 January 2017. The case in question refers to the events between two companies belonging to the dental sector. In the concrete case there was a transfer of employees such as to suggest that the competitor company was transferring an employee. This step was justified by economic and business advantages. The Court stated that:

“the transfer of employees by a company constitutes an act of unfair competition when the result of a competitive advantage to the detriment of the other company is pursued”

The court goes on to state that this advantage must be acquired:

"through a strategy aimed at acquiring a staff made up of subjects familiar with the same work system within a specific area, emptying the competing organization of its specific operational possibilities by subtracting the modus operandi of its employees, the bureaucratic and market knowledge acquired by them , as well as the image itself of operators in a certain sector.”

Court of Cassation rulings relating to the cancellation of employees, click here

Investigations into Unfair Competition Acts

Always taking into consideration the objective that the client wants to achieve, for example, ascertaining any acts attributable to the case of unfair competition, the investigative activity is structured:

Verification of movements at agreed times, through static (so-called stalking) and dynamic (so-called shadowing) visual monitoring activities; Use of GPS satellite systems, as foreseen and authorized by Ministerial Decree 269 of 1 December 2010; At the end of the investigations, a Written report that can be produced in court accompanied by photographic evidence and videos; Documentation through films and/or photos testifying to any extramarital relationship; List of employees who carried out the investigation for a possible call as witnesses in court at the competent court.

Relying on an Investigation Agency means being able to demonstrate the presence of activities attributable to Unfair Competition through documentation legally recognized by the Court. Find out more

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