The last quarter of 2013 saw a substantial M&A activity in the luxury and premium branded goods industry.

The financial crisis is having a significant impact in the field of employment, with an increase in dismissals for an objectively justified reason (giustificato motivo oggettivo) as employers seek to reduce their business costs.

Pursuant to Section 2118 of the Civil Code, and except in certain cases (ie, in the event of termination for cause or during a probationary period), employers and employees are entitled to terminate a permanent employment agreement provided that they comply with the obligation to give the counterparty adequate notice.

On September 9 2011 an Italian consumer association, the Centro di Ricerca e Tutela dei Consumatori e degli Utenti, published a press release announcing that the Italian Competition Authority had initiated an investigation into four companies on the basis of the association’s claim of alleged unfair commercial practices relating to warranties for Apple iPods and iPads.

As widely reported, the court of Milan has recently convicted three officers of Google in connection with a video, uploaded on Google video, of a boy affected by the Down syndrome being bullied by his classmates.

The 'Soccergate' scandal, which erupted following a wire-tapping investigation of many of the key figures in Italian football, finally resulted in the relegation of Juventus football club from Serie A, the top division, to Serie B.

New courts, established in a number of main cities, will have jurisdiction over proceedings involving foreign companies in some specific matters.

The Italian government recently approved two significant pieces of legislation – Decree-Laws 93/2008 and 112/2008 – which affect numerous aspects of employment and labour law, annulling certain provisions introduced by the previous government and introducing new regulations.

Traditionally in Italy the financial distress of a corporation was treated in a very strict way through proceedings aimed at the dissolution of the company, the sale of its assets and the replace of the directors with commissioners appointed by Public Bodies.

On June 12 2008 the European Court of Justice issued judgment in O2 Holdings Limited and O2 (UK) Limited v Hutchinson 3G UK Limited [2008] C-533/06 and set out some interpretative principles on the questions of trademark protection and comparative advertising for identical or similar products.

The Minister of Labour has recently stated that as long as certain conditions are observed, the recording of phone conversations between call centre employees and customers does not constitute a form of remote monitoring as prohibited under Article 4 of the Statute of Employees (Law 300/1970) and Article 114 of the Privacy Code (Legislative Decree 196/2003).

The Italian Constitution guarantees the freedom and confidentiality of correspondence and all other forms of communication.

On March 3 2010 Parliament approved a significant piece of legislation - the Collegato Lavoro - which affects several aspects of employment law, changing certain existing provisions and introducing new regulations.

Draft Law 1082, which was recently approved in the Senate, will become law in the next few weeks.

The saga of corporate trials in Italy has been full of suspense. The most recent episode was the Mastella Bill, a draft law issued by the Council of Ministers in March 2007 and now submitted to Parliament.

Telecom Italia’s Alice 20Mega offer has been blocked by a decision of the Regional Administrative Tribunal of Lazio (No. RG 4376/2006, hereinafter the "Decision").

Under Italian Law in order to open a travel agency a company shall substantially obtain a travel agency license and fulfill several bonding requirements.

The Charter on Equal Opportunities and Equality at Work is not mandatory; rather, companies can decide to adhere to it with regard to their specific circumstances and alongside existing programmes.

The future of Alitalia, Italy's biggest airline, has been the focus of attention in recent months.

On December 22 2010 the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM) published a draft regulation (Annex B to AGCOM Resolution 668/10) which relates to AGCOM’s powers in respect of the protection of copyright on electronic communications networks.