Mark Katz is a partner in the Competition & Foreign Investment Review, Retail and China practices. He has advised domestic and international clients on a wide variety of competition law matters, such as mergers and acquisitions, criminal cartel investigations, joint ventures, abuse of dominance, distribution and pricing practices, misleading advertising and compliance and other legislation governing foreign investment in Canada. Mark has appeared at every level of court in relation to competition matters, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and has acted as counsel on several leading cases before the Competition Tribunal, including the first abuse of dominance and merger cases heard by that body. He also provides advice with respect to the application of the Investment Canada Act.
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What does CETA mean for EU and Canadian competition policy?* Introduction With the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) having finally been signed by the EU and Canada on October 30, 2016, it’s worth exploring what it says about competition law and policy and how it may impact (...)
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Responding to Compulsory Production Orders from the Competition Bureau: Federal Court of Canada Provides Practical Guidance* 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 (...)
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Canada’s Updated Draft Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines and the Pharmaceutical Industry* 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 (...)
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Canadian Court Clarifies Competition Bureau Disclosure Obligations in Cartel Prosecutions* On February 4, 2015, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that relevant factual information proffered to the Crown in order to qualify for immunity or leniency under the Competition Bureau’s cartel (...)
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Face-off in the Grocery Aisle: Retailers and Suppliers Go Head-to-Head in Canada* I. INTRODUCTION Perhaps more than ever, tensions between suppliers and retailers have become the defining feature of the grocery industry worldwide. These tensions have also frequently formed the basis for (...)
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Canada grapples with pricing issues* Introduction With the exception of hard-core cartel conduct such as price-fixing and bid-rigging, Canadian competition law has de-emphasized in recent years the importance of pricing conduct as a source of anti-competitive harm. Thus, although the Canadian (...)
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Proposed Amendment to Canada’s Competition Act to Prohibit “Unjustified” Cross-Border Price Discrimination* On February 11, 2014, the Canadian government included in its federal budget a proposed amendment to the Competition Act to prohibit unjustified price discrimination to reduce the gap (...)
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Canada grapples with pricing issues* Introduction With the exception of hard-core cartel conduct such as price-fixing and bid-rigging, Canadian competition law has de-emphasized in recent years the importance of pricing conduct as a source of anti-competitive harm. Thus, although the Canadian (...)
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Canadian Federal Court of Appeal Expands Scope of Competition Act’s Abuse of Dominance Provisions* On February 3, 2014, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned the Competition Tribunal’s 2013 decision dismissing the Commissioner of Competition’s abuse of dominance allegations against the Toronto (...)
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The Supreme Court of Canada: A Computer is Not a Cupboard* When investigating cartel violations in Canada, the Competition Bureau’s tool of choice is the “search and seizure” (the Canadian equivalent of the “dawn raid” in Europe). The Bureau execises its search and seizure powers pursuant to (...)
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Supreme Court of Canada Allows Indirect Purchaser Claims* Note: On October 31, 2013, Canada’s Supreme Court issued important decisions regarding the scope of private claims for civil damages under the Competition Act. Below is a note prepared by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg on these (...)
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Face-off in the Grocery Aisle: Retailers and Suppliers Go Head-to-Head in Canada* I. INTRODUCTION Perhaps more than ever, tensions between suppliers and retailers have become the defining feature of the grocery industry worldwide. These tensions have also frequently formed the basis for (...)
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Credit Cards in Canada: What Role for Competition Law?* 1. Introduction The growing popularity of credit and other payment cards among consumers has been accompanied by an increase in the regulatory and legal scrutiny of the terms governing the availability and use of these cards. One focus (...)
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Bid-Rigging in Canada: Recent Developments* The Canadian Competition Act prohibits various types of anti-competitive agreements between competitors. For example, it is a criminal offence for competitors to fix prices, allocate markets, and/or restrict output. Civil proceedings can also be (...)
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Blowing the Whistle on Cartels in Canada* Cartel enforcement in Canada is heavily dependent on the use of informants. This is explained by two principal factors. First, cartel conduct is, by its very nature, secretive and carried out in the shadows of business life. Second, Canada’s Competition (...)
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Conducting a competition law compliance audit: a checklist for corporate counsel* Canada’s Competition Bureau, like other competition enforcement agencies, identifies “compliance audits” as one of the essential elements of a credible and effective competition compliance program. The following is (...)
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Competition Tribunal Dismisses Abuse of Dominance Case Against The Toronto Real Estate Board* Here is an item on an important decision of Canada’s Competition Tribunal written by my partners George Addy, Sandra Forbes, John Bodrug and Jim Dinning. It is especially relevant for trade (...)
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