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David Hull

Van Bael & Bellis (Brussels)

Partner

David Hull is a partner with Van Bael & Bellis, in the firm’s Brussels office, he is a highly-experienced competition lawyer, having started practicing competition law in Brussels in 1984. He specializes in representing clients in complex investigations before the European Commission and in litigation before the European Courts. Notable cases include Lundbeck (first EU case on “reverse-payment” patent settlements); Cathode Ray Tubes (appeal of cartel decision); Ryanair (appeal of Commission’s decision blocking takeover of Aer Lingus); Akzo (legal privilege); Bitumen (appeal of fine imposed in cartel case); and Microsoft (appeal of fine imposed for alleged non-compliance with Commission decision). He teaches competition law at the University of Liège and the Brussels School of Competition.

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2035 | Events

9 Nov 2021 Brussels Brussels Antitrust in Home Office - Photo exhibition See documents

Articles

5366 Bulletin

Barbara Monti, David Hull, Nicole Sunderlin The EU General Court annuls in its entirety the Commission’s decision to fine a chipmaker €1B for exclusivity payments to a smartphone manufacturer on the grounds that the economic analysis was unsubstantiated and procedural errors undermined the rights of the defence (Qualcomm)

15 June 2022 133

On 15 June 2022, the General Court of the European Union (“GC”) upheld all of Qualcomm’s arguments and therefore annulled the decision of the European Commission (“Commission”) fining Qualcomm € 1 billion for abuse of dominant position on the Long-Term Evolution (“LTE”) chipsets market. In (...)

Barbara Monti, Michael Clancy, David Hull The UK Competition Authority publishes its decision to fine a pharmaceutical company £155M for excessive pricing and £111.5M for market exclusion agreements (Auden McKenzie / Actavis)

31 March 2022 118

On 31 March 2022, the CMA published one of its longest decisions (1077 pages), in which it imposed fines of £155 million on Accord-UK (previously Auden McKenzie/Actavis) for excessive price increases on hydrocortisone tablets after they were de-branded and fell outside the UK NHS price (...)

Giovanni Pregno, Barbara Monti, David Hull The Regional Administrative Court of Lazio annuls a decision to fine a online ticket seller €10.8M for abuse of dominance on the grounds that mergers cannot be considered abusive, thus declaring Continental Can inapplicable following the passing of the EUMR (TicketOne)

24 March 2022 78

On 24 March 2022, an Italian administrative court (“TAR Lazio” or “court”) annulled the Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”) decision imposing a fine of €10.8 million on several companies belonging to the music ticketing and marketing group CTS Eventim-TicketOne (“TicketOne”) for abuse of its (...)

Barbara Monti, Michael Clancy, David Hull The UK Competition Authority fines two pharmaceutical companies £260 million for excessive pricing on hydrocortisone tablets (Auden Mckenzie / Actavis)

15 July 2021 258

David Hull, Laura Lehoczky-Deckers The Swiss Competition Authority imposes a fine for abuse of dominant position in the market for ice hockey broadcasting (UPC)

20 October 2020 132

On 20 October 2020, the Swiss Competition Commission (“COMCO”) fined UPC (a group member of Liberty Global) CHF 30 million for abuse of dominance for refusing to supply live broadcasts of the Swiss Ice Hockey Championship to Swisscom. UPC was found to be dominant on the basis of its (...)

David Hull, Victoria Ciudin The French Supreme Court confirms that the incumbent horse race betting operator abused its dominant position (PMU)

14 October 2020 194

On 14 October 2020, the French Supreme Court (“Cour de Cassation”) confirmed the Court of Appeals’ finding that horserace-betting company Pari Mutuel Urbaine (“PMU”) abused its dominant position in the market for physical horserace betting by pooling bets with those in the online market. (...)

David Hull, Samuel Hall The EU Commission accepts commitments to ensure competition in systems-on-a-chip markets for modems and set-top boxes (Broadcom)

7 October 2020 119

On 7 October 2020, the European Commission accepted Broadcom’s commitments to suspend its existing agreements, and to refrain from entering into any new agreements, containing exclusivity or quasi-exclusivity arrangements and/or leveraging provisions concerning Systems-on-a-Chip (“SoCs”) for (...)

Catherine Gordley, David Hull Gun jumping in Europe: An overview of EU and national case law

11 January 2018 2691

In the last few years, the European Commission and national competition authorities have demonstrated an increased interest in investigating and punishing gun jumping. This development is part of a broader effort by the Commission to tighten its review of compliance with procedural aspects of the EU’s merger control regime.

David Hull The EU Commission considers generic competition and pipeline products in the human-health pharmaceutical sector in conditionally clearing a merger (Pfizer / Wyeth)

17 July 2009 506

On 17 July 2009, the European Commission approved the acquisition by Pfizer Inc. USA («Pfizer») of Wyeth USA. In its decision, the Commission identified substantial horizontal overlaps in the parties’ human health pharmaceutical operations, as well as in the parties’ animal health operations, (...)

David Hull The EU Commission refines its analysis of relevant markets in the airline sector and accepts slot divestitures with grandfathered rights as a remedy (Lufthansa / SN Airholdings)

22 June 2009 1137

On 22 June 2009, the European Commission approved the acquisition by Deutsche Lufthansa AG («Lufthansa») of SN Airholding SA/NV, the holding company of SN Brussels Airlines («SN Brussels»), subject to commitments. This decision indicates that the Commission is moving towards a more nuanced (...)

19594 Review

David Hull Slot divestitures : The EC refines its analysis of relevant markets in the airline sector and accepts slot divestitures with grandfathered rights as remedy (Lufthansa/SN Airholdings)

30 October 2016 2008

– Eur. Commission, 22 June 2009, Lufthansa/SN Airholdings, Case COMP/M.5335 On 22 June 2009, the European Commission approved the acquisition by Deutsche Lufthansa AG (“Lufthansa”) of SN Airholding SA/NV, the holding company of SN Brussels Airlines (“SN Brussels”), subject to commitments. (...)

David Hull Commitments - Joint venture: The European Commission clears a joint venture between three companies for security solutions for mobile devices subject to commitments (ARM/Giesecke & Devrient ; Gemalto/JV)

6 November 2012 225

Comm. eur. dec. art.6, § 1 (b) and art. 6, § 2, R. 139/2004 of 6 November 2012, ARM c/ Giesecke & Devrient/Gemalto c/ JV Trustonic: From the false start to the finish line ---- Mid-December 2012 saw the launch of Trustonic, the joint venture created by ARM, Gemalto and Giesecke & (...)

David Hull Horizontal and vertical effects: The European Commission unconditionally clears a joint venture in the retail business in airports (Aelia/Aéroports de Paris/JV)

16 February 2012 529

Eur. Comm, dec. art. 6, §1 (b), Reg. 139/2004, 20 October 2011, Aelia/Aéroports de Paris/JV, case COMP/M.6263 On 20 October 2011, the European Commission gave the go-ahead for the creation of a joint venture between Aelia (controlled by the Lagardère Group) and Aéroports de Paris ("ADP") for (...)

David Hull Horizontal overlaps: The European Commission unconditionally clears the acquisition of sole control of a German milk producer by a Danish cooperative (Arla Foods/Allgäuland)

16 February 2012 302

Eur. Comm. dec. art. 6, §1 (b), Reg. 139/2004, 7 November 2011, Arla Foods/Allgäuland, case COMP/M.6348 Arla, a Danish dairy cooperative, active in the production and sale of several dairy products, has the ambition to become one of the leaders in the German dairy market. It is with this in (...)

David Hull Vertical and conglomerate assessments: The European Commission examines potential vertical foreclosure issues in media sector (News Corp/BSkyB)

21 December 2010 652

Comm. eur., 21 décembre 2010, News Corp/BSkyB, aff. COMP/M.5932 By its decision of 21 December 2010, the European Commission cleared News Corp’s proposed acquisition of the remaining 60.86 % of the shares in BSkyB that it did not already own. The transaction will bring together Rupert (...)

David Hull Phase II - Risk of non coordinated effects: The European Commission conditionally clears an acquisition in the body care sector after in-depth investigation (Unilever, Sara Lee Body Care)

17 November 2010 221

Comm. eur. 8, §2, R.139/2004, of 17 November 2010, Unilever/Sara Lee Body Care, case COMP/M.5658 The European Commission published on 27 January 2012 its decision on the acquisition by Unilever of the personal care business of Sara Lee. It gave its approval subject to conditions on 17 (...)

David Hull Relevant Market – Commitments : The European Commission refines its market definition for finished dose pharmaceuticals and clears an acquisition in this sector subject to commitments (Teva / Ratiopharm)

3 August 2010 1647

– Eur. comm., dec. art. 6(2) Reg. 139/2004, 3 August 2010, Teva/Ratiopharm, case COMP/M.5865 On 3 August 2010, the European Commission cleared, subject to conditions and obligations, the acquisition by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited («Teva») of Merckle GmbH, CT Arzneimittel GmbH and (...)

David Hull Referrals From Member States: The European Commission accepts referral requests under Article 22 Reg. 139/2004 (Procter & Gamble/Sara Lee Air Care)

17 June 2010 1225

– Eur. comm., 17 June 2010, Procter & Gamble/Sara Lee Air Care, case COMP/M.5828 On 17 June 2010, the European Commission approved Procter & Gamble’s acquisition of Sara Lee’s air care business. Procter & Gamble is a U.S. corporation that develops, manufactures, markets and (...)

David Hull Merger clearance - Remedies: The European Commission unconditionally clears a merger on the database market after self-enforcing public pledges alleviating competition concerns (Oracle/Sun Microsystems)

21 January 2010 1478

Eur. Comm, 21 January 2010, Oracle/Sun Microsystems, case COMP/M.5529 By its decision of January 21, 2010, the European Commission cleared the acquisition of the US software and hardware vendor Sun Microsystems by the US database company Oracle after a phase 2 procedure, approving what could (...)

David Hull Phase I clearance: The European Commission confirms prior approach to market definition for human health pharmaceuticals (Merck/Schering Plough)

22 October 2009 1562

Eur. Comm, 22 October 2009, Merck/Schering Plough, case COMP/M.5502 On October 22, 2009, the European Commission approved the acquisition of the US pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough by Merck, another US pharmaceutical company. This decision mainly concerns the sector of pharmaceuticals (...)

Anthony Dawes, David Hull, Geneviève Wibaux, James Killick, Nicolas Petit The outcome of the EC pharmaceutical sector inquiry

September 2009 4919

On 8 July 2009, the European Commission’s released its long-awaited Final Report on its Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry. The Final Report suggests that the shortcomings of the regulatory framework are a key explanatory factor for delayed generic entry and limited innovation. Meanwhile the Final (...)

David Hull Segmentation of products markets: The French Competition Authority unconditionally clears a merger where, despite a strong market share in a market devoid of brand recognition, significant countervailing buyer power would effectively hinder any anticompetitive unilateral effects (LDC Traiteur/Marie)

22 July 2009 2651

Dec. 09-DCC-048 of September 22, 2009, regarding the acquisition by LDC Traiteur of Marie Marie, a company specializing in the production and distribution of food products. By a decision of 22 September 2009, the French Competition Authority (hereinafter ’the Authority’) authorised, without (...)

David Hull Pharmaceutical sector: The European Commission considers generic competition and pipeline products in the human-health pharmaceutical sector (Pfizer/Wyeth)

17 July 2009 2175

– Eur. Commission, 17 July 2009, Pfizer/Wyeth, Case COMP/M.5476 On 17 July 2009, the European Commission approved the acquisition by Pfizer Inc. USA (“Pfizer”) of Wyeth USA. In its decision, the Commission identified substantial horizontal overlaps in the parties’ human health pharmaceutical (...)