European Union, Patent settlements, Pharmaceuticals

/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Servier v. Commission (Case T‑691/14) is the second decision of the General Court of the European Union on “pay-for-delay” patent settlements in the pharmaceutical industry,[1] following the 2016 decision of the Court on Lundbeck v. Commission (Case T-472/13).[2] In 2014, the European Commission imposed fines totalling €427.7 million for violations of European competition laws…

Abuse of dominance, Bulgaria

(Eversheds Sutherland, Bulgaria)/ /Leave a comment

A fine of slightly above EUR 400 000 was imposed to the biggest Bulgarian telecom operator – A1 Bulgaria, member of Telekom Austria Group (“A1”) for abuse of stronger bargaining position in its contractual relationship with its former sales representative – Handy Bulgaria (“Handy”). The relationship between the two companies started back in 2005, when Handy…

Abuse of dominance, European Court of Justice, European Union, Jurisdiction clauses, Private actions

, (McCann FitzGerald)/ /Leave a comment

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) held recently in Apple Sales International v MJA acting as liquidator of eBizcuss.com[1] that claims alleging abuse of a dominant position could come within the terms of a jurisdiction clause even where the clause did not expressly refer to claims based on competition law.   Relevant Rules The rules…

EC privilege

(Kirkland & Ellis, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

On 26 November 2018, the European Commission (EC) submitted an overview of its policy on the treatment of legally privileged information in competition proceedings in the context of this year’s OECD roundtable discussions. The EC’s note is helpful as its legal privilege best practices in antitrust proceedings date from 2011 and no official guidance exist…

Big data, European Union, Mergers

(Baker McKenzie)/ /Leave a comment

Unlike recent merger cases where the Commission looked at the concentration of data within a merged entity, the Commission’s focus in Apple/Shazam was on vertical concerns, including as a result of access to Shazam customer data.  The focus was more about the potential impact on Apple’s rivals rather than whether the acquisition of data would…

Data protection, India

(National Law University New Delhi)/ /1 Comment

“Personal data is the currency of today’s digital market.”[1] -Viviane Reding, (Former Vice-President, the European Commission) Recently, a Committee of Experts (Srikrishna Committee) set up in India to draft a law for data protection in the country after enunciation of the right to privacy by the Indian Supreme Court, released the “Personal Data Protection Bill,…

Ireland, Merger control, Simplified procedure

(A&L Goodbody)/ /Leave a comment

Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“CCPC”) (www.ccpc.ie) has initiated a very welcome public consultation on possibly simplifying the merger control process.   Simplified procedure for Ireland? In a consultation paper, the CCPC asks whether there should be a “simplified procedure” for some notifications in Ireland (https://www.ccpc.ie/business/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/11/Simplified-Procedure-Consultation.pdf).  This would apply to deals which “clearly do…

European Union, Foreign direct investment

, (Dentons)/ /1 Comment

On 20 November 2018, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission reached a political agreement on the proposed EU framework for screening of foreign direct investments (FDIs). The proposal, put forward by the Commission in September 2017, aims at protecting key strategic industries and assets in Europe whilst maintaining the EU’s appeal to foreign…

Amazon, European Union, Litigation, Online platforms

, (Hausfeld)/ /2 Comments

In September 2018, the European Commission (“EC”) sent out formal requests for information (“RFIs”) to investigate allegations of an anticompetitive conduct by Amazon. The investigation relates to the interdependencies between Amazon’s third-party sales platform for retailers (“Amazon Marketplace”) and Amazon’s own online retail operations. Operating both on an upstream intermediation market for businesses (“merchants”) and…

France, Online sales ban, Selective distribution

, , (Dentons)/ /Leave a comment

With Halloween just past, the French Competition Authority (FCA) is revisiting chainsaw massacre: on October 24, 2018, it adopted a decision imposing a 7 million euros fine on chainsaw manufacturer Stihl for imposing a de facto ban on online sales to its distributors (see press release here). Even more importantly, contrasting with previous French cases, the…