Jurisdiction

National competition authorities (NCAs), Netherlands, Resale price maintenance, Restriction by object

, (Bird & Bird)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On 13 November 2023, the District Court of Rotterdam (“Court”) handed down its judgment in the Samsung case. This ruling gives insights on whether a supplier, by actively pursuing its resale price recommendations can be held to restrict competition by object, even if its conduct does not involve any sanctions (or threat thereof) or…

Ex ante regulation, Ex ante regulatory assessment, Ex post regulatory assessment, India, Intellectual property (IP), National competition authorities (NCAs), Patent settlements

, , (Fox & Mandal)/ /Leave a comment

The Honorable Delhi High Court has recently in the case of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (PUBL) v. Competition Commission of India held that when a patent is issued in India, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) cannot inquire into the actions of a patentee in the exercise of its power under the Competition Act, 2002. The…

Competition and Markets Authority, Enforcement, Priority setting, United Kingdom

(University of Leeds) and (University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

On 30 October 2023, the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its new prioritisation principles. These principles aim to guide the CMA’s choice of work when enforcing the competition rules, particularly as the CMA does not have the resources to act in all instances. Seemingly little has changed in the text since the previous…

Abuse of dominance, Advantage, Bulgaria, Burden of Proof, Competition, Competition enforcement, Competition law, Competition policy, Complaint, Discrimination, Dominance, General Court of the European Union, Potential competition

(KU Leuven)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On Wednesday 25 October 2023, the General Court of the European Union ruled in Case T-136/19 on the application of the prohibition of abuse of dominance under Article 102 TFEU. The judgment concerns the annulment of a Commission decision condemning Bulgarian gas holding company BEH and subsidiaries for an unauthorised refusal of access. The…

Dawn raids, Enforcement, Jurisdiction, National competition authorities (NCAs), National court

, (Jones Day)/ /Leave a comment

Dawn raids are back with a vengeance. In October 2021, when COVID-19 restrictions were being lifted, EVP M. Vestager stressed that after a two-year hiatus mandated by the pandemic, dawn raids were back (see here for the speech). After carrying out dawn raids in the fashion and the wood pulp industries, she warned that this…

Austria, Enforcement, Fines, Settlement

, (E+H Attorneys-at-Law)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On 6 November 2023, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (“FCA“) published its updated standpoint on settlements. The original standpoint dates back to 2014. Shortly after the first settlement at the European level had taken place in 2010, Austria had its first settlement in the “brewery case” in 2012. This was quickly followed by a…

Anticompetitive agreements, Confidentiality, Damages, Portugal, Private actions, Private enforcement

(Sousa Ferro & Asociados)/ /1 Comment

Introduction On February 21, 2020, the European Commission (EC), in the context of Case AT.40528 – Holiday Pricing, ordered Meliá Hotels International, S.A. to pay a fine in the total amount of EUR 6 678 000. The European Commission found that Meliá Hotels International, S.A. participated in a single and continuous infringement of Article 101…

Boycott, National competition authorities (NCAs), Spain, Unfair competition, Unfair practices

(Backer McKenzie)/ /Leave a comment

On 26 July 2023, the Autoritat Catalana de la Competència (a regional competition authority in Spain; hereinafter, the ACCO) issued an infringement decision against the Asociación Profesional Elite Taxi (Professional Association Elite Taxi; hereinafter, Elite Taxi) for a boycott conduct which had as its object the digital platform business pioneer, UBER. This latest decision follows…

Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Germany, National court, New Competition Tool

(Universität Regensburg)/ /Leave a comment

On 7 November 2023, a new amendment law to the German Competition Act (“Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen”, GWB) came into force. Because it is the 11th major amendment, it is commonly referred to as the 11th GWB Amendment (11. GWB-Novelle). In addition to numerous small alterations, it is particularly noteworthy for three important novelties:   New…

Artificial Intelligence, Europe, European Commission, European Union, Regulation

, (DLA Piper)/ /Leave a comment

The World’s first hard-law horizontal legislation on artificial intelligence is currently nearing political agreement between the European Union’s (EU) three legislative branches, the European Parliament (EP), the Council of the European Union (the Council) and the European Commission (EC). Inter-institutional negotiations (or with their technical name, trilogues) continue, and there is an incredible amount of…