68 results Third time lucky: Intel wins loyalty rebate battle at EU top court The European Court of Justice has upheld the annulment of Intel’s EUR 1.06 billion fine for abuse of dominance. The judgment provides guidance on how to assess the anti-competitiveness of loyalty rebates. To Prove or Presume? The EC’s Draft Guidelines on exclusionary abuses The Commission recently published its Draft Guidelines on Exclusionary Abuses of Dominance, which are meant to reflect the EU case law. However, they seem to deviate on important aspects, arguably simplifying the assessment for establishing an abuse. New competition tool: something old, something new, something borrowed Large online platforms may face more regulatory obligations, whilst non-dominant companies’ unilateral conduct may soon be curbed. COVID-19: fast-forwarding competition law Competition authorities are temporarily ‘green-lighting’ certain collaboration initiatives to safeguard the supply of essential products in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. Directors' liability due to competition law infringements by the company The District Court Noord-Nederland recently allowed the trustees in bankruptcy of Northsea shrimp trading company Heiploeg to recover part of a EUR 27 million cartel fine from a former director. Waiting for the EC: third-party platform bans and RPM still on radar The results of the European Commission’s evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) call for more clarity and convergence in the interpretation of certain (online) vertical restrictions. Innovatie en staatssteun. Het CBb leidt de weg bij de belangrijke definities industrieel onderzoek en experimentele ontwikkeling Het College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven (“CBb”) heeft op 6 oktober 2020 in een subsidiegeschil nadere invulling gegeven aan het onderscheid tussen “industrieel onderzoek” en “experimentele ontwikkeling”. General Court confirms: no proof, no dawn raid The Commission should think twice before conducting a dawn raid. The General Court partially annulled three Commission decisions ordering dawn raids at the premises of French supermarkets for a lack of sufficiently strong evidence. Commission’s objectives in the digital sector focus on “fairness" On 19 February 2020, the European Commission revealed the first pillars of its strategic and policy objectives in the digital space over the next five years. COVID-19 impacts level and payment of antitrust fines As well as granting companies leeway on certain COVID-19 initiated collaborations (see our May 2020 newsletter), the coronavirus outbreak has also led competition authorities to take a more lenient stance towards fine calculations and payments. No parking! Canon fined EUR 28 million for warehousing transaction structure The European Commission has landed a third strike against gun-jumping, the prohibition to implement a transaction before notification to and clearance by the Commission. Cheaper beer ahead? AB InBev fined for cross-border sales restrictions Dominant companies beware of hindering cross-border sales between resellers through, for instance, labelling or packaging measures to make your products less attractive for import. Low prices, high fines: Commission's creative purchase cartel fine upheld Companies should take note that the European Commission will deviate from its own general fining methodology if a particular case calls for it. The General Court recently upheld the Commission's novel fining approach in regard of a purchase cartel. Double-check your merger info - or face significant fines for inaccuracies Failing to submit complete and accurate information to the European Commission during a merger investigation can have costly consequences. Guess what, online branding restrictions are on the Commission's radar Companies are probably aware of the Commission's eagerness to clamp down on online resale price maintenance and geo-blocking restrictions. The recent fine for vertical restraints by clothing company Guess marks a new dot on the Commission's radar. Brush up and avoid dawn raid drama - the clock is ticking There is no time like the present for companies to give their staff an opportunity to brush up on their responsibilities so they know what to do during dawn raids. A problem shared is a problem halved: fine reduction and fine liability are correlated Companies should beware that when held jointly responsible for a cartel infringement, a fine reduction granted to one of them could affect the joint and several liability of fines allocated to the remaining companies. Pay-for-delay: brightened lines between object and effect restrictions In its first pay-for-delay case, the ECJ has clarified the criteria determining whether settlement agreements between a patent holder of a pharmaceutical product and a generic manufacturer may have as their object or effect to restrict EU competition law. Pagination Previous page Page 1 Current page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Next page
Third time lucky: Intel wins loyalty rebate battle at EU top court The European Court of Justice has upheld the annulment of Intel’s EUR 1.06 billion fine for abuse of dominance. The judgment provides guidance on how to assess the anti-competitiveness of loyalty rebates.
To Prove or Presume? The EC’s Draft Guidelines on exclusionary abuses The Commission recently published its Draft Guidelines on Exclusionary Abuses of Dominance, which are meant to reflect the EU case law. However, they seem to deviate on important aspects, arguably simplifying the assessment for establishing an abuse.
New competition tool: something old, something new, something borrowed Large online platforms may face more regulatory obligations, whilst non-dominant companies’ unilateral conduct may soon be curbed.
COVID-19: fast-forwarding competition law Competition authorities are temporarily ‘green-lighting’ certain collaboration initiatives to safeguard the supply of essential products in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Directors' liability due to competition law infringements by the company The District Court Noord-Nederland recently allowed the trustees in bankruptcy of Northsea shrimp trading company Heiploeg to recover part of a EUR 27 million cartel fine from a former director.
Waiting for the EC: third-party platform bans and RPM still on radar The results of the European Commission’s evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) call for more clarity and convergence in the interpretation of certain (online) vertical restrictions.
Innovatie en staatssteun. Het CBb leidt de weg bij de belangrijke definities industrieel onderzoek en experimentele ontwikkeling Het College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven (“CBb”) heeft op 6 oktober 2020 in een subsidiegeschil nadere invulling gegeven aan het onderscheid tussen “industrieel onderzoek” en “experimentele ontwikkeling”.
General Court confirms: no proof, no dawn raid The Commission should think twice before conducting a dawn raid. The General Court partially annulled three Commission decisions ordering dawn raids at the premises of French supermarkets for a lack of sufficiently strong evidence.
Commission’s objectives in the digital sector focus on “fairness" On 19 February 2020, the European Commission revealed the first pillars of its strategic and policy objectives in the digital space over the next five years.
COVID-19 impacts level and payment of antitrust fines As well as granting companies leeway on certain COVID-19 initiated collaborations (see our May 2020 newsletter), the coronavirus outbreak has also led competition authorities to take a more lenient stance towards fine calculations and payments.
No parking! Canon fined EUR 28 million for warehousing transaction structure The European Commission has landed a third strike against gun-jumping, the prohibition to implement a transaction before notification to and clearance by the Commission.
Cheaper beer ahead? AB InBev fined for cross-border sales restrictions Dominant companies beware of hindering cross-border sales between resellers through, for instance, labelling or packaging measures to make your products less attractive for import.
Low prices, high fines: Commission's creative purchase cartel fine upheld Companies should take note that the European Commission will deviate from its own general fining methodology if a particular case calls for it. The General Court recently upheld the Commission's novel fining approach in regard of a purchase cartel.
Double-check your merger info - or face significant fines for inaccuracies Failing to submit complete and accurate information to the European Commission during a merger investigation can have costly consequences.
Guess what, online branding restrictions are on the Commission's radar Companies are probably aware of the Commission's eagerness to clamp down on online resale price maintenance and geo-blocking restrictions. The recent fine for vertical restraints by clothing company Guess marks a new dot on the Commission's radar.
Brush up and avoid dawn raid drama - the clock is ticking There is no time like the present for companies to give their staff an opportunity to brush up on their responsibilities so they know what to do during dawn raids.
A problem shared is a problem halved: fine reduction and fine liability are correlated Companies should beware that when held jointly responsible for a cartel infringement, a fine reduction granted to one of them could affect the joint and several liability of fines allocated to the remaining companies.
Pay-for-delay: brightened lines between object and effect restrictions In its first pay-for-delay case, the ECJ has clarified the criteria determining whether settlement agreements between a patent holder of a pharmaceutical product and a generic manufacturer may have as their object or effect to restrict EU competition law.