James Killick, Author at Kluwer Competition Law Blog

Abuse of dominance, As Efficient Competitor, Burden of Proof, European Union, General Court of the European Union, Rebates, Standard of Proof

EU General Court demands a vigorous effects-based analysis for rebates cases and annuls the European Commission’s Intel decision and the €1.06 billion fine

James Killick, Assimakis Komninos (White & Case) and Peter Citron (Editor) (White & Case, Belgium)/January 27, 2022January 27, 2022 /Leave a comment

On 26 January 2022, the EU’s General Court (GC) annulled the European Commission’s (EC) €1.06 billion fine on Intel for abusing a dominant position with its rebate schemes.[1] The judgment demonstrates that the European Courts are prepared to look in detail at evidence and economic analysis in antitrust cases, and will annul EC decisions if…

European Court of Justice, Patent settlements, Pharmaceuticals, Restriction by object

The ECJ’s Lundbeck judgment offers little new on patent settlements but gives birth to an interesting principle: sector inquiries give rise to a duty of diligence

Jérémie Jourdan, James Killick, Assimakis Komninos, Tilman Kuhn (White & Case) and Peter Citron (Editor) (White & Case, Belgium)/March 26, 2021March 26, 2021 /Leave a comment

On 25 March 2021, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) dismissed all the appeals against the European Commission’s decision to fine Lundbeck and several other companies for entering into anti-competitive patent settlement agreements.1 The judgments largely repeat the position taken by the ECJ in its January 2020 Paroxetine judgment (see our alert). They notably confirm…

Digital competition, European Commission, European Union, Ex ante regulation, Market investigations, Structural competition problems

The European Commission eyes the addition of a market investigation tool to its 60-year-old toolbox – but is it a chisel or a sledgehammer?

Assimakis Komninos, Mark Powell, Marc Israel, James Killick, Jacquelyn MacLennan, Kate Kelliher (White & Case)/June 5, 2020June 5, 2020 /Leave a comment

On 2 June 2020, the European Commission published its roadmap on the possible introduction of a ‘new competition tool’ that would allow it to initiate market investigations into perceived structural competition problems, with the ability to impose market-wide remedies on companies. The proposal has obvious parallels to the market investigation tools already in place in…

Abuse of dominance, Excessive pricing, United Kingdom

Authorities have to consider different types of evidence. The UK Court of Appeal broadly upholds the CAT’s judgment in Phenytoin and clarifies “excessive pricing” test

James Killick, Assimakis Komninos (White & Case)/April 2, 2020April 2, 2020 /Leave a comment

Summary On 10 March 2020 the Court of Appeal upheld the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) quashing of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision that Pfizer and Flynn Pharma (Flynn) had abused their dominant positions in the market by pricing their epilepsy drug unfairly. Among other aspects, the Court of Appeal broadly upheld the CAT’s…

Abuse of dominance, Effects-based, United Kingdom

The CMA Remicade decision: discount schemes and abuse of dominance – effects matter!

James Killick, Assimakis Komninos, Strati Sakellariou-Witt, Axel Schulz (White & Case)/March 28, 2019March 28, 2019 /Leave a comment

Summary On 14 March 2019, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided to close its investigation into a discount scheme by Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited (MSD).[1] The CMA concluded that there were no grounds for it to take action, since MSD’s discount strategy was not likely to limit competition in anticipation of the…

Economics, European Court of Justice, European Union, Mergers

EU Court confirms the need for transparency and full disclosure of economic analyses in EU merger cases (UPS/TNT)

James Killick, Assimakis Komninos (White & Case)/January 22, 2019January 22, 2019 /Leave a comment

On 16 January 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU” or “Court”) dismissed the European Commission’s appeal against the annulment of its decision to prohibit the acquisition of TNT by UPS. The CJEU stressed the importance of respecting companies’ rights of defence as regards economic analysis and methodology used in merger control….

Excessive pricing, Pharmaceuticals, United Kingdom

Competition Appeal Tribunal quashes the CMA’s excessive pricing decision against Pfizer and Flynn Pharma

James Killick (White & Case)/June 13, 2018June 12, 2018 /Leave a comment

Summary On 7 June 2018, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) held that the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) misapplied the relevant legal test when finding that Pfizer and Flynn Pharma (Flynn) unfairly priced their epilepsy drug. The CAT quashed the record £84.2 million and £5.2 million fines that the CMA imposed on Pfizer…

European Court of Justice, Mergers

Economists Must Respect Due Process Too! EU General Court annuls Commission decision blocking UPS/TNT merger

James Killick (White & Case)/March 13, 2017March 13, 2017 /Leave a comment

The judgment reinforces due process and transparency in EU merger control proceedings. The Court made clear that due process standards will be strictly enforced in merger cases, despite the relatively tight deadlines. The Decision was, therefore, annulled for failure to respect rights of defence in relation to the handling of economic evidence by the Commission….

European Union

ECJ rips up Orange Book! New standards in Europe for SEP injunctions

James Killick (White & Case)/September 4, 2015 /1 Comment

Standards lie at the heart of the digital economy – without standards, we would not have smartphones, tablets and other key parts of modern life. Europe’s highest court recently delivered a judgment in Huawei v. ZTE[1]Judgment of the Court of Justice of 16 July 2015 in Case C‑170/13, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd v. ZTE Corp….