Reply To: GW Takes Ghamak To Court!

[onlyonepinman]

A bit of internet searching reveals the following:

Italian unfair competition law, primarily found in Article 2598 of the Civil Code, prohibits acts like misusing competitors’ names, imitating products, spreading damaging information, and using other dishonest means. The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) enforces these rules, with recent legislation (Law n. 214/2023) giving it new powers and aligning Italy with EU competition law. The law also covers a range of other acts, including misleading advertising, and can lead to administrative and criminal penalties. 

What is considered unfair competition under Article 2598?

• Misappropriation of distinctive signs: Misusing a competitor’s name, trademarks, or other distinctive signs.  
• Imitation: The slavish imitation of a competitor’s products or activities in a way that causes confusion.  
• Acts creating confusion: Any act that creates confusion with a competitor’s products or business, such as domain name appropriation (cybersquatting).  
• Spreading false information: Spreading news or opinions about a competitor that are likely to discredit their products or business.  
• Misleading and comparative advertising: Using dishonest means, including misleading or comparative advertising, to gain prestige or damage a competitor.  
• Unethical or dishonest practices: The use of other unfair and dishonest means to damage a business.

That’s just an AI overview, however it would seem if the case is litigted in Italy, the highlighted section would be the most likely to apply and, well, it’s hard to deny that his sculpts imitate those of GW.  Whether or not it causes confusion, well, I guess we will find out when it goes to court.  I know Ghamak is saying that he is being sued for making models that are compatible with Warhammer 40,000, but I suspect that in court Games Workshop are going rely on the fact that Ghamak’s models look an awful lot like thier own models and not simply the fact that his models could be used in their game.  I reserve the right to be wrong, but I would not be putting money on Games Workshop presenting a case that the models are compatible with 40k and therefore it constitutes unfair competition when a stronger case is available.

Obviously I am not supporting Games Workshop, but as I said before, I would still like to see a lot more information about what the lawsuit is actually claiming.

• This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by onlyonepinman.