Régis Pihéry

No. 11-22.365; No. 11-20.460; No. 11-21.278 While service station operators had been granted the status of "branch manager", the oil company claimed that the criterion of quasi-exclusivity laid down in Article L. 7321-2 of the Labour Code was not defined and did not allow the supplier to (...)

Ever since the enactment of the Dutreil Act on August 2, 2005, France’s commercial practices oversight committee (the CEPC) has, each year, prepared a report for the French Government and Parliament on case law developments in the area of restrictive practices (Title IV of Book IV of the (...)

Metz CA, 13.09.2012, Coiffure Moderne c/ Look and Coiff, RG n° 09/03409 A company operating a hair salon accused a rival salon of massively poaching several members of its staff and then capturing its clientele. An appeal court rejects unfair competition: A former employer cannot defeat (...)

CA Paris, December 14, 2011, Les connaisseurs du voyage c/ British Airways PLC, RG n° 09/20639 Comments The General Terms and Conditions of Sale (GTS) of two airlines prohibited travel agents from benefiting from the more advantageous tariff conditions in other Member States by reserving (...)

CA Paris, December 14, 2011, Les connaisseurs du voyage c/ British Airways PLC, RG n° 09/20639 The General Terms and Conditions of Sale (GTS) of two airlines prohibited travel agents from benefiting from the more advantageous tariff conditions in other Member States by reserving the fares (...)

Cass. com, 21 June 2011, Bareyre, Appeal No. 10-19.902 A court of appeal had dismissed a sales agent’s claims for compensation in lieu of notice and for termination of contract for serious misconduct on the grounds that, "having failed to make certain visits to customers at agreed intervals, (...)

CA Versailles, March 10, 2011, Terre de Sienne c/ Carrefour, RG n°09/09875 Paris Board of Directors, March 24, 2011, Accor, RG n°07/07337 The decisions handed down on the termination of commercial relations show that brutality cannot be invoked when the relationship is not stable and (...)

Cass. civ. 1, 3 February 2011, UFC Que Choisir v/ Association Clévacances Isère and Fédération nationale des locations de France Clévacances, appeal n° 08-14.402 Facts A consumer association had sued an association of lessors in order to obtain the deletion, in a seasonal rental contract (...)

CJEU, 18 November 2010, Lidl v Vierzon Distribution, Case C-159/09 A major retailer had run an advertisement reproducing receipts for the purchase of some thirty food products, identified by generic names ("margarine", "cream spread", "tomato purée", etc.), at its premises and at the (...)

The law of 23 July 2010 on consular networks, trade, crafts and services transposing the European directive 2006/123/EC of 12 December 2006, placed new information obligations on service providers with regard to the recipients of these services, regardless of whether the latter are consumers (...)

The Court of Cassation agrees with the Paris Court of Appeal that, in accordance with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices must be interpreted as meaning that it "precludes national (...)

In the event of termination of his relations with the principal, the commercial agent is entitled to compensation for the loss suffered (Art. L. 134-12 C. com). This compensation is not due if the termination of the contract is caused by the agent’s serious fault (Art. L. 134-13 C. com.). (...)

Facts A mobile telephone company had been sanctioned by the Competition Authority for having taken part in an illegal cartel within the meaning of Article 81 of the EC Treaty (now Article 101 TFEU) and L. 420-1 of the French Commercial Code, the Authority observing in particular that the (...)

Facts A commercial agent whose contract had been terminated had summoned his principal in payment of commissions and compensation in lieu of notice and severance pay. The Court of Appeal had rejected the request for payment of a termination indemnity on the grounds that the termination was (...)

Commercial Court of Evry, 14 October 2009, Minister of the Economy v Carrefour Hypermarkets, n°2008F00380; CA Versailles, 29 October 2009, GALEC v. Minister of the Economy, RG n°08/07356; Paris Board of Directors, 18 November 2009, SACCA v. Carrefour Hypermarchés, RG n°09/00341; Orléans (...)

The central purchasing office of a supermarket chain had carried out an advertising campaign questioning the price of non-reimbursed medicines, with the message: "with the increase in the price of medicines, treating a cold will soon be a luxury", illustrated by a drawing of a bust showing a (...)

The Competition Authority has issued an opinion on the revision of Regulation (EC) No 2790/1999 and the Guidelines on Vertical Restraints. The Commission summarises the relevance of these texts, which it has had occasion to apply in four opinions and 42 decisions (mainly in the fields of (...)

A laboratory had published several brochures aimed at health professionals, announcing the marketing of a pharmaceutical speciality as a generic of an originator drug, "Mopral 20 mg". The company owning the trademark "Mopral" had acted in trademark infringement and unfair competition, (...)

Directive 85/374/EEC provides that the producer of a defective product is liable not only for personal injury to the victim, but also for damage to his property provided that it is "of a kind normally intended for private use or consumption and was used by the victim primarily for his private (...)

A real estate agent had concluded a "contract of mandate with a representative with the status of a commercial agent". As the representative had summoned the real estate agent to record the breach of contract and to pay various sums, the latter counterclaimed for the nullity of the contract. (...)

Making use of its new prerogatives for the first time, the Competition Authority has taken up the matter on its own initiative in order to give an opinion on the questions raised by the forthcoming opening up of the rail sector to competition. The Authority thus wishes to shed light on the (...)

The Law of 12 May 2009 on the simplification and clarification of the law has made several changes to the Consumer Code, aimed at ensuring better consumer protection: It is up to the trader, seller of goods or provider of services, to prove that he has enabled the consumer to know the (...)

A commercial agent who considered that the breach of his contract was attributable to the principal had summoned him to pay the indemnity due in the event of termination of the contract. The principal then invoked serious misconduct on the part of the agent justifying the deprivation of any (...)

In the relations between a company and a sales representative, the Social Chamber of the Court of Cassation stresses "that if it can be contractually provided that orders not carried out successfully do not give rise to commission, it is on the condition that it is without fault on the part of (...)

Order No. 2009-229 of 26 February 2009 adapts national law to the requirements of the European REACH regulation concerning the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemical substances, as well as the restrictions applicable to these substances. It provides for criminal penalties for (...)

Facts Brandtraders operates a website on which Internet users can anonymously place an ad as a seller or as a buyer and where they can also anonymously negotiate their transactions. Brandtraders, as soon as it is informed of the acceptance of the offer of sale, concludes a contract of sale (...)

Under the terms of Article L. 123-29 of the French Commercial Code, derived from Article 53 of the LME Act of 4 August 2008, any person who wishes to carry on a commercial or travelling craft activity outside the territory of the municipality where his or her home or main establishment is (...)

Published in the Official Journal on February 19, 2009, the Decree on the advertising of anti-competitive practices was issued pursuant to Article L. 470-7-1 of the French Commercial Code introduced by the Order of November 13, 2008 on the modernization of competition regulation. It lays (...)

Pursuant to Article L. 430-10 of the French Commercial Code, as amended by the Law on the Modernization of the Economy of August 4, 2008, the Decree on merger decisions to be made public was published in the Journal Officiel of February 19, 2009. It distinguishes between decisions issued by (...)

CA Paris, January 28, 2009, Carrefour et Interdis c/ Ministère public and UFC Que Choisir, RG n° 09-000647 Facts 1st species: Following several DGCCRF inspections between 04 October 2004 and 25 August 2005, a distributor was prosecuted for reselling at a loss. Considering that the law of (...)

Facts In a dispute with an individual over the repayment of a loan, a credit company was challenging the court’s decision to reject its claim for payment of contractual interest. It argued that the provisions of Articles L. 311-8 et seq. of the Consumer Code relating to the credit (...)

Facts The signatory of a contract entitled "mandate", which expressly excluded the application of the provisions of the Labour Code relating to the sales representative in favour of the commercial agency system, claimed before the industrial tribunal the status of exclusive sales (...)

Commission d’examen des pratiques commerciales, activity report for 2009 The publication of the CEPC’s latest annual activity report (transmitted to the Government and Parliament pursuant to the Act of 2 August 2005) shows, once again (see the CEPC report for 2006, 2007 and 2008), in the (...)

The Law on the modernisation of the economy inserted a new Article L. 441-6-1 in the Commercial Code. This article provides that "companies whose annual accounts are certified by an auditor shall publish information on the payment terms of their suppliers or customers in accordance with the (...)

Facts The promoter of a large distribution network had inserted in the affiliation contract it had granted to a company a non-reaffiliation clause prohibiting the latter, in the event of termination, for one year and within a radius of five kilometres, from using a "sign of national or (...)

Taken for the application of the law on the modernisation of the economy of 4 August 2008, this decree specifies the operating rules of the departmental commercial development commissions (CDAC) and the national commercial development commission (CNAC). It also determines the tasks and (...)

The tax instruction (3 E2 08) of 19 November 2008 relating to value added tax, commercial negotiations in the retail sector, and invoicing procedures, provides details on the treatment of the negotiation items referred to in Article L. 441-7 of the French Commercial Code. It seems to be (...)

Facts Two commercial agents who considered that the breach of their agency contract was attributable to their principal had summoned the latter to pay termination indemnities, notice, commission and damages. In their defence, the principal argued, inter alia, that the two commercial agents (...)

Since the law on the modernisation of the economy of 4 August 2008, payment periods in commercial matters are imperatively limited to forty-five days at the end of the month or sixty days from the date of issue of the invoice. In order to enable undertakings to adapt gradually to this (...)

Cass. com, 3 June 2008, Lesage v. Distribution Casino France, appeal no. 06-18.007 Facts A franchisee had prematurely terminated its franchise agreement with a grocery store chain and affiliated with a competing chain. The former franchisor had then assigned the franchisee and had obtained (...)

On 1 April 2008, the Competition Council adopted its 2007 annual report, including a thematic study entitled "Les mesures conservatoires". In order to prevent certain practices from irremediably harming competition, the Competition Council has a rapid and effective but also strictly (...)

On April 1, 2008, the Competition Council adopted its 2007 annual report in which it presents, among other things, a thematic study entitled: "Exclusivity and long-term contracts". Where an undertaking has significant market power, the precise terms of contractual commitments with its (...)

Facts A hospital centre had issued a call for tenders for the provision of general assistance to the contracting authority, a mission related to the construction of an establishment for the accommodation of dependent elderly persons. A bidder, denouncing the "abusively low price" bid made (...)

Facts Following the termination of their franchise agreement with the franchisor selling office supplies, two companies had affiliated themselves with a competing brand. The franchisor had then argued before the judge in summary proceedings that the post-contractual non-competition clauses (...)

Facts A supplier of aeronautical and electronic equipment had notified its regular distributor of the termination of their business relationship with six months’ notice. Prior to the expiry of this notice period, the supplier had informed its customers of the identity and contact information (...)

Facts A commercial agency contract had been concluded between EIS and TTM, under which the latter had been entrusted with a "mission to monitor the market, search for suppliers and follow up orders placed by the EIS] group[". EIS wished to terminate this contract by means of an amendment, (...)

The Commission d’examen des pratiques commerciales observes that "certain employees of undertakings which supply products or services are called upon by the undertaking receiving these products or beneficiaries of these services to perform on behalf of the latter tasks of a generally (...)

If, since the opening up of television advertising to distribution as of January 1, 2007, the brands emphasize in their advertising messages the values they intend to represent, they should quickly make use of comparative advertising, thus trivializing a form of advertising that has been (...)

By a decision of 5 October 2006, the French Competition Council accepted the commitments submitted by Bose, Focal JM Lab and Triangle to modify the contractual provisions binding them to their resellers in order to allow the latter to market their products via the Internet. These changes (...)

Article 97 of the Act of 13 July 2006 stipulates that the status of commercial agents is from now on "applicable[to [negotiators] who are not salaried employees of real estate] agencies". On the other hand, it is specified that "these persons [may no longer] receive or hold sums of money, (...)

The new Article L. 762-2 of the French Commercial Code, inserted by Order No. 2006-673 of 8 June 2006, states in its first paragraph: "a trade show is a commercial event devoted to the promotion of a set of professional activities reserved for visitors with a permit. It only offers for sale on (...)

Facts A commercial agent informed his principal of his wish to replace his status with that of V.R.P. and was struck off the register of commercial agents. When the principal rejected his claim, the agent summoned him to pay his severance pay. When his claim is dismissed at first (...)

Article L. 146-2 of the French Commercial Code, resulting from the Dutreil law, stipulates that the principal must provide the managing agent, before signing the contract, with all the information necessary for its mission in order to enable it to commit itself in full knowledge of the facts. (...)

Facts DELTA and MAVRONA, companies established in Greece, have entered into a contract whereby MAVRONA buys the products from DELTA in its own name, pays the price, after deducting an amount equal to 19% corresponding to its commission, and subsequently sells the products to third parties, (...)