Sale of Goods With Digital Elements: The Obligation to Supply Updates in Italian Law

This paper addresses the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/771 (Sale of Goods Directive, SGD) into Italian law, specifically focusing on the rules concerning goods with digital elements and software updates. The paper explores the rationale behind these innovative provisions, distinguishing between the legal concepts of “update” and “upgrade”. It further elaborates on the Italian transposition of the SGD provisions regarding updates, clarifying the legal nature of the obligation to supply updates under Italian law, as well as its main characteristics. The impact of these provisions in Italy is examined both from a B2C and B2B perspective. The B2C perspective considers the potential extension of the legal relationship between the seller and the consumer to third-party update suppliers. The B2B perspective examines the possibility of extending the obligation to provide updates to non-consumer contracts involving goods with digital elements, by applying the principle of integrative good faith.