Miranda Cole

On 22 April 2020, the UK Competition and Market Authority (“CMA”) published its guidance on ‘Merger assessments during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic’ (“the guidance”). Prior to the publication of the guidance, there was some speculation about whether the CMA would be more willing to (...)

The UK Court of Appeal Clarifies the Legal Test for Excessive Pricing* Under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”), an undertaking may abuse its dominant position by “directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices”. The UK Court of (...)

Under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”), an undertaking may abuse its dominant position by “directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices”. The UK Court of Appeal recently provided guidance regarding the legal test to determine (...)

On 6 December 2017, the Court of Justice of European Union (CJEU) issued its long-awaited Judgment in Coty Germany GmbH v Parfümerie Akzente GmbH. Taking an approach similar to that adopted by Advocate General (AG) Wahl in his Opinion in July, the CJEU found that a supplier of luxury goods may (...)

On July 1, 2016, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy published a proposed draft amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition, which would introduce a new merger control notification threshold based on transaction value. The draft (i) introduces a new (...)

On September 15, 2016, the European Commission published its Preliminary Report on the ongoing e-commerce sector inquiry. The report is based on the input from nearly 1,800 companies operating in e-commerce of consumer goods and digital content and has analyzed around 8,000 distribution (...)

On July 16, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU” or “the Court”) issued its long-awaited judgment in Huawei Technology Co. Ltd v ZTE Corp., ZTE Deutschland GmbH. The CJEU found that the holder of a standard essential patent (“SEP”) may, in certain circumstances, abuse its (...)

Earlier today, the European Commission (the “EC”) announced the launch of a sector inquiry into the e-commerce sector in the European Union (“EU”). This is the first sector inquiry in the EU since 2008, and is part of the EC’s broader Digital Single Market (“DSM”) Strategy. The Directorate (...)

Earlier today, Vice-President Andrus Ansip (Digital Single Market) unveiled the European Commission’s long-awaited strategy aiming to achieve a single, borderless, European online marketplace and kick-start growth in the European digital economy. The Commission’s roadmap includes several (...)

The Reference On 5 April 2013, the Landgericht Düsseldorf referred questions relating to injunctive relief over standard-essential patents (“SEPs”) to the Court of Justice (“CJEU”) in connection with a patent dispute between Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd (“Huawei”) and ZTE Corp., ZTE (...)

On 20 June 2013, the European Commission published a consultation paper which proposes a reflexion and seeks comments from stakeholders on two distinct issues in the field of merger control: non-controlling minority shareholdings and the system of case referrals. The Commission raises detailed (...)

Private damages claims in the EU are a fact of life these days. As a result of the persistent and creative efforts of claimants, the days when cartel damages were a U.S. aberration of merely potential concern for companies facing cartel charges in the EU are long gone. The silver lining for (...)

On 20 February 2013, the European Commission published for consultation its proposal for revisions to the EU technology transfer competition regime. The consultation period runs until 17 May 2013. The new regime will be adopted before April 2014. The EU’s approach to the application of (...)

On January 5, China’s Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) issued new regulations regarding investigations and sanctioning of companies that fail to notify transactions under China’s Anti- Monopoly Law (“AML”). Under the regulations, which take effect on February 1, non-compliant companies may be (...)

On 20 April 2010, the European Commission published new rules governing so-called “vertical” agreements, such as distribution and supply agreements. The new rules are set out in the Vertical Restraints Block Exemption Regulation and the related Guidelines (see DG Competition’s website). They (...)

China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”) has required review and approval of proposed transactions that meet the AML’s filing thresholds by the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) since August 2008. MOFCOM has publicly acknowledged that its merger review process under the AML often results in delayed (...)