Antitrust, Cartels, Competition, Poland

(WKB Wierciński, Kwieciński, Baehr, Poland)/ /Leave a comment

The Polish competition authority applies the principle of in dubio pro reo in the case concerning a cartel on the domestic certification market (and refuses to use lie detecting devices) On 29 December 2017, the Polish competition authority – the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (the “OCCP President”) – penalised a…

Mergers, Ukraine

, , (Arzinger)/ /Leave a comment

Background Significant amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On protection of economic competition” came into force on 17 December 2017. The changes are aimed at prohibiting transactions involving persons included in the Ukrainian sanctions list (the Sanctions list). The Sanctions list was introduced by the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions” following the annexation of Crimea…

Abuse of dominance, European Commission, European Union

, (Cleary Gottlieb)/ /Leave a comment

On January 24, 2017, the European Commission announced that it had fined Qualcomm EUR 997,439,000. The Commission thinks that Qualcomm had abused its dominant position to become Apple’s sole supplier of long term evolution (“LTE“) baseband chipsets. The abuse was allegedly committed through exclusive deals, which lasted from 2011 to 2016. Baseband chipsets are key components in smartphones and tablets, which enable connection…

Brexit, Competition, State aid, United Kingdom

, (Eversheds Sutherland) and (Pinsent Masons LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 2 February 2018, the EU Internal Market Sub-Committee of the House of Lords (“EU Committee”) published its report on the implications of Brexit on competition law and State aid (“Report”)[1].  On antitrust and merger control, the Report concludes that there should continue to be consistency between the UK’s and EU’s approach to competition matters,…

European Union, Fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND), Intellectual property (IP), Standard essential patent (SEP)

(Sidley Austin LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Standard essential patents (SEPs) and fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms remain hotly debated topics within antitrust circles as regulators around the world stake out their positions. In November 2017, the European Commission (the Commission) published its Communication on the EU approach to Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) (the Communication).[1]  It sets out a general,…

Canada, E-commerce

(Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Canada)/ /Leave a comment

This item was written by my colleague Anita Banicevic While most consumers know that their clicks and “likes” leave a digital trail, the rise of the digital economy has led to a spike in the volume and types of data being created and collected. If data is “the new oil,” it’s no surprise that regulators…

Antitrust, Canada

(Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Canada)/ /Leave a comment

The following item was prepared by my colleagues Jim Dinning and David Feldman In the annual Davies forecast of the year ahead for Canadian competition law, we discuss the top five issues and trends to watch for in Canadian competition law this year. 1. New Leadership at the Bureau and a Year of Transition 2018…

Cartels, Germany, Netherlands

, (Stek)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On December 18 2017, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (the ACM) announced that it had halted its investigation into cartel agreements between Dutch and German towage companies in various ports in Germany and the Netherlands. Stek represented one of the German towage companies in this investigation. The ACM’s decision to stop the investigation…

Cartels, Germany

(McDermott Will & Emery)/ /Leave a comment

The German Federal Cartel Office (‘FCO’) decided in 2015 that ASICS, the manufacturer of sports and running shoes, may not prevent its dealers from cooperating with price comparison engines. The German Federal Court of Justice (‘BGH’) has now, in a judgment published on 19 January 2018, confirmed the FCO’s decision. The judgment comes only weeks…

Antitrust, Germany

, , (Covington & Burling LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 23 January 2018, Germany’s Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) handed down its judgment on allegedly anti-competitive requests for preferential rebates and conditions by food retailers (case KVR 3/17 – not yet published). This is an important judgment as it removes a major roadblock to antitrust enforcement in the food retail sector in Germany,…