Bulgaria

(Eversheds Sutherland, Bulgaria)/ /Leave a comment

The Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission (“CPC” or “Commission”) has recently issued an important decision regarding the parallel trade of pharmaceuticals and the possibilities for its limitations. In September 2013 ,- Sopharma Trading JSC (“Sopharma”), which is the affiliated distributor of one of the leading Bulgarian pharmaceutical companies, filed with the CPC a complaint against several…

European Commission, Pricing

(College of Europe, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

78th Lunch Talk of the Global Competition Law Center Friday, October 30, 2015 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM The Legal Status of Rebates after Post Danmark II Nicholas KHAN, Legal Service, European Commission Pablo IBANEZ-COLOMO, London School of Economics Moderator: Denis Waelbroeck, Ashurst LLP & GCLC Programme: 12:00 – 12:30: Sandwich lunch and socializing…

Canada, Intellectual property (IP), Pharmaceuticals

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

I. INTRODUCTION In June 2015, Canada’s Competition Bureau released its updated draft of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines (“Draft IPEGs”) for public review and consultation. The Draft IPEGs are intended to reflect the 2009 amendments to the Competition Act (the “Act”), including the changes to the criminal conspiracy provisions and the introduction of a new…

Canada, Investigations

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

Canada’s Commissioner of Competition is armed with a variety of compulsory powers that he can use in pursuing investigations. One such power is the ability, with the permission of a court, to subpoena documents and information under section 11 of the Canadian Competition Act. Of late, the Commissioner has been using such orders quite extensively,…

Canada, Consumer welfare

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

By Anita Banicevic and Mark Katz On October 14, 2015, the Canadian Competition Bureau announced that it had reached a Consent Agreement with Bell Canada to resolve the Bureau’s concerns regarding reviews posted by Bell employees for two Bell applications (apps) that were available from the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store. The…

Consumer welfare, Germany

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

On October 1, 2015, the FCO published a paper entitled “Digital economy – internet platforms between competition law, privacy and consumer protection” on the occasion of a conference of the working group competition law (consisting of experts from the FCO, German ministries, other competition authorities, academia and judges). The paper discusses various competition law issues…

European Union

(Baker & McKenzie)/ /Leave a comment

The first Post Danmark case in 2012[1]Case C-209/10, available here: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=121061&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=148291 brought about a modest antitrust revolution on Article 102 applicable to discrimination. Rarefied economic concepts were confirmed. Price discrimination as a standalone abuse was all but confined to a historical footnote in antitrust textbooks, to be replaced by a predation type test. Article 102…

Competition, European Union

, (Gibson Dunn)/ /Leave a comment

On 6 October 2015, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in a case concerning rebates and when they fall foul of EU competition law. Background The case concerns Post Danmark and, unlike appeals against European Commission Decisions, came by way of a reference from the Danish High Court seeking formal guidance on the interpretation…

Antitrust, Damages, United Kingdom

(St Johns Chambers, United Kingdom)/ /1 Comment

On 1 October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (“CRA 2015”) entered into force. The CRA 2015 makes numerous changes to consumer rights laws in the United Kingdom. Of particular interest to competition practitioners and litigators are the provisions on private actions in competition law, contained in section 81 of and Schedule 8 to the…