Mayer Brown

Review

Walid Chaiehloudj, Marion Provost, Mélanie Thill-Tayara, Wladimir Soltmann, Elisabetta M. Lanza, Nicolas Binctin Patent hold-up and the pharmaceutical sector

September 2023 1654

Patent hold-up is a complex and contemporary issue, at the confluence of competition law and intellectual property law. In recent years, this practice, which is carried out by patentees, has raised a number of difficulties in both the United States and the European Union. While patent hold-up (...)

David M. Harrison, Sarah Wilks, Ruth Neligan UK : Trends in merger control post-Brexit : Fresh out of the oven

May 2023 1158

In the two years since the United Kingdom left the European Union, the Competition and Markets Authority has established itself as a notable competition authority on the global stage, including in the digital sphere. This article summarises a number of trends in UK merger control post-Brexit (...)

David M. Harrison Competition Law and Financial Services, David HARRISON

May 2014 46

This section selects books on themes related to competition laws and economics. This compilation does not attempt to be exhaustive but rather a survey of themes important in the area. The survey usually covers publication over the last three months after publication of the latest issue of (...)

Aymeric De Moncuit Negotiation: In the shadow of competition law

September 2021 1437

The article explores a crucial but still unexplored dimension of competition law - negotiation. It discusses the two types of negotiations in competition law, namely, vertical (negotiation in the asymmetry of power) and horizontal (arm’s length negotiation), then it delves into the lessons (...)

Aurélie Zoude-Le-Berre, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Aurélie Zoude-Le Berre: The New Caledonian Competition Authority, an authority on all fronts

February 2021 1033

Interview conducted by Nathalie Jalabert-Doury, Partner, Mayer Brown, Paris. Ms. Zoude-Le Berre, the New Caledonian Competition Authority took up its duties on 2 March 2018 and, in two years, it has already adopted a number of opinions and decisions covering broadly the area of the (...)

Frederic Jenny, Christian Ahlborn, Jeremy Bacharach, Christoph Barth, Christian Bovet, Marcel Boyer, Jacques Buhart, Maria Pilar Canedo Arrillaga, Carpagnano Michele, Daniel A. Crane, Aymeric De Moncuit, Valentine Delaloye, Jacques Derenne, David-Julien dos Santos Goncalves, David Gabathuler, Mark Griffiths, Leigh Hancher, David Henry, Pierre Horna, David Kupka, Siún O’Keeffe, Christian Ritz, Giulio Cesare Rizza, Matthias Schlau, Mario Siragusa, Anastasia Usova, Viala Faustine, Masako Wakui Competition law and health crisis

May 2020 7231

The unexpected shock provoked by the Covid-19 crisis and the measures taken to limit the spread of the pandemic have affected the functioning of many markets. Throughout the world, competition authorities which, in the last decade, had been enforcing their laws in the context of steady (...)

Aymeric De Moncuit, Valérie Noël Admissibility of appeals lodged by competitors after the Montessori judgment – La possibilité d’une île

November 2019 1308

Any person who wishes to challenge a Commission decision authorising the granting of aid to a competitor must be directly and individually concerned by such aid, in accordance with Article 263(4) TFEU. According to the case law, this is particularly the case if the market position of this (...)

Aymeric De Moncuit Connecting competition law standards to the Internet of things

November 2018 1846

The advent of the Internet of Things will entail a new Internet revolution and bring about profound changes that will rival the first wave of Internet innovation. This paper explores the competition law implications raised by this upcoming revolution. Starting by discussing the merits of open (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Current developments in European and French antitrust investigations (January – June 2018)

September 2018 882

This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DGCOMP and the French competition authorities. The new rules, case law and agency initiatives in that field over the past six months are covered. At the EU level, the Alcogroup judgment of the (...)

Gianni De Stefano, Giovanni Labate, James Harvey, Jérémy Bernard, Laurent Eymard, Marie Blanchard, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury, Salomé Cisnal De Ugarte, William Koeberlé The Coty judgment: Online selective distribution and platform bans

May 2018 2078

In its Coty Germany c. Parfumerie Akzente decision dated 6 December 2017, the Court of Justice reiterated the conditions of application of Article 101 TFEU to selective distribution agreements based on qualitative criteria. The Court also ruled for the first time on the prohibition to resell (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Current developments in European and French antitrust investigations (June - December 2017)

February 2018 987

This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DG COMP and the French competition authorities. The new rules, case law and agency initiatives in that field over the past six months are covered. At the EU level, the Intel Court ruling on the (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Current developments in European and French antitrust investigations (October 2016 – May 2017)

September 2017 700

This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DGCOMP and the French Competition Authorities. The new rules, case law and agency initiatives in that field over the past eight months are covered. At the EU level, the Commission notably published (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Update on competition investigations in European Union and France (January – September 2016)

February 2017 546

This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DG COMP and the French competition authorities. The new rules, case law and agencies’ initiatives in that field over the past nine months are covered. At the EU level, the article provides comments (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Antitrust investigations update in the European Union and in France (June – December 2015)

September 2016 475

This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DG COMP and French Competition Authority officials. The new rules, case law and agencies initiatives in that field over the past six months are covered. At the EU level, this article notably covers (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury New developments in the field of competition investigations in the European Union and France (January - June 2015)

December 2015 769

The present article reviews and comments new developments concerning competition investigations for the period between January and June 2015, at the EU and French levels. At the EU level, the Vinci and Deutsche Bahn judgment are notably discussed, concerning respectively IT searches and (...)

Emily Xueref-Poviac, Estelle Leclerc, Jean-Paul Tran Thiet, Orion Berg Energy : The French Energy Regulatory Commission issues a deliberation regarding the responses provided by incumbent operators and their parent companies related to their compliance with the French Energy Code

23 June 2015 267

On June 23, 2015, the Commission de Régulation de l’Energie (hereinafter "CRE") published a deliberation on the responses provided by Électricité Réseau Distribution France (hereinafter "ERDF"), Gaz Réseau Distribution France (hereinafter "GRDF") and their parent companies (respectively EDF (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Update of competition investigations in the EU and in France

May 2015 1253

In the period covered by the present article, several European court cases may be mentioned, including the Orange, Nexans and EPH court decisions. The European Court for Human Rights also delivered a ruling in the Delta Pekarny case concerning the requirement of judicial review. In France, the (...)

Emily Xueref-Poviac, Estelle Leclerc, Jean-Paul Tran Thiet Electronic communications : The French Supreme Administrative Court rejects a request to suspend a decision of the French Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority publishing a report on the measurements of the quality of service for fixed Internet access (Free)

12 December 2014 198

On November 25, 2014, the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (hereinafter "ARCEP") published a preliminary version of an observatory measuring the quality of the fixed Internet access service offered by electronic communications network operators in (...)

Aymeric De Moncuit Les engagements en matière de pratiques anticoncurrentielles - Analyse des droits français, européen et américain

December 2014 2092

After having resorted to traditional enforcement instruments such as sanctions and injunctions, the fight against anti-competitive practices underwent a profound change on 1 May 2004 with the entry into force of Regulation 1/2003. Like US antitrust law with consent decrees, negotiated law is (...)

Estelle Leclerc, Jean-Paul Tran Thiet, Laetitia Ghebali Television - Approval : The French Higher Audiovisual Council rejects a request formed by television channels related to free-to-air broadcasting (La Chaîne Info, Paris Première, Planète +)

29 July 2014 441

CSA, Decision No. 2014-357 of July 29, 2014 on the request for approval of the modification of the financing terms of the terrestrial television service La Chaîne Info Decision no. 2014-358 of July 29, 2014 on the request for approval of the modification of the terms and conditions of (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Antitrust investigations update: September 2013 - April 2014

September 2014 976

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Cartel : The Court of Justice of the European Union rejects a first part of the appeals brought against AIG cartel and gives some details about the assessment of the probative statements (Siemens, Mitsubishi Electric et Toshiba)

19 December 2013 254

CJEU, 19 December 2013, Mitsubishi Electric v Commission, Case C-489/11 P CJEU, 19 December 2013, Toshiba v Commission, Case C-498/11 P It will be recalled that in 2007 the Commission heavily sanctioned Japanese and European manufacturers of gas-insulated switchgear and controlgear ("GIS") (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Fine : The European Commission fines two pharmaceutical companies € 16 million for delaying market entry of generic pain-killer fentanyl

10 December 2013 288

On 10 December 2013, the European Commission imposed fines of €16 million under Article 101 TFEU on Johnson & Johnson and Novartis for delaying the market entry of fentanyl, a generic pain reliever. The Dutch subsidiaries of the two groups entered into an anti-competitive agreement in July (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Cartel : The European Commission fines four North Sea shrimps traders € 28 million for price fixing cartel

27 November 2013 225

On 27 November 2013, the European Commission imposed fines of €28 million under Article 101 TFEU on four North Sea shrimp traders for participating in a price-fixing cartel. Three of these companies, Heiploeg, Klaas Puul, and Kok Seafoof, are based in the Netherlands. Stührk is established in (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Leniency : The Court of Justice of the European Union dismisses an appeal of a company condemned for cartel on the Dutch road pavement bitumen market (Kuwait Petroleum)

21 November 2013 272

On 13 September 2006, the Kuwait Petroleum Group was ordered by the Commission to pay EUR 16.632 million for colluding with its competitors on the road bitumen market in the Netherlands. A 30 % reduction of the fine was then granted in accordance with the 2002 Cooperation Notice. The Kuwait (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Fining guidelines : The Paris Court of appeal confirms the validity of the Notice of 16 May 2011 on the Method Relating to the Setting of Financial Penalties but states that the compliance of penalties imposed with the provisions of the Commerce Code is to be controlled in each case (Nestlé Purina Petcare France, Nestlé, Royal Canin, Mars Incorporated, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Colgate-Palmolive company)

10 October 2013 359

In a decision of 20 March 2012, the Competition Authority sanctioned several manufacturers of dry dog and cat food to the tune of €35.3 million for restricting competition at the wholesale distribution stage of their products and, in the case of some of them, for imposing resale price (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Cartel : The French competition authority accepts the commitments in the field of card payment (MasterCard)

20 September 2013 274

Concordant Aut. 20 September 2013, Dec. 13-D-18 on Visa practices in the payment card industry. On 20 September 2013, the Competition Authority issued two decisions in the payment cards sector. Two proceedings had been initiated against Visa and MasterCard following a complaint by the (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Single and continuous infringement: The General Court reduces the fines of several companies in the bathroom fittings case (Bathroom fittings and fixtures)

16 September 2013 372

By a decision of 23 June 2010, the Commission had imposed fines of more than €622 million on 17 bathroom equipment companies for coordinating between 1992 and 2004 the selling price of bathroom fixtures in France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium, during meetings of (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Fines: The European Commission fines producers of wire harnesses € 141 million in cartel settlement (Wire harnesses)

10 July 2013 179

This is the first of the ongoing cartel investigations in the field of car parts to come to a successful conclusion. The decision condemns five producers of wire harnesses for car manufacturers Toyota, Honda, Renault and Nissan to a total of €141 million for agreeing on prices and sharing (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Applicability of the EU Law: The Paris Court of Appeal largely confirms the Orange Caraïbe decision and sets the same slightly reduced fines as the first Court of appeal (Orange Caraïbe)

4 July 2013 200

In a 2009 decision, the Authority sanctioned France Telecom and its subsidiary Orange Caraïbe for practices of exclusion on the mobile and fixed telephony market in certain overseas departments, as well as for having imposed an exclusivity clause that did not comply with Articles L. 420-1 of (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Pay for delay: The European Commission fines Lundbeck and other pharmaceutical companies for delaying market entry of generic medicines (Lundbeck)

19 June 2013 390

The Commission has fined the Danish pharmaceutical group Lundbeck and generic producers a total of €146 million for having colluded in 2002 to delay the market entry of the generic antidepressant Citalopram. As Citalopram’s patent had expired, a generic producer had started to market a (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Anticompetitive object: The General Court confirms the aluminium fluoride decision (Fluorsid)

18 June 2013 190

Trib. EU, 18 June 2013, Fluorsid, Case T-406/08 In 2008, the Commission sanctioned a very short-term cartel in the aluminium fluoride sector (only 6 months), which was discovered on the basis of an immunity application by one of the producers concerned. The combined fines imposed on the (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Procurement contract: The Court of cassation rejects the appeals introduced into the affair of the road marking (Lacroix)

28 May 2013 168

The Court of Cassation was seized of appeals by several of the companies condemned in the road signs case (decision No. 10-D-39 of 22 December 2010, decision No. 10-D-39 of 22 December 2010, decision No. 10-D-39 of 22 December 2010, decision No. 10-D-39 of 22 December 2010, decision No. (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Continuous infringement: The General Court delivers rulings of much interest in the marine hose case (Parker ITR)

17 May 2013 344

Trib.UE, 17 May 2013, Parker ITR, cases T-147/09 and T-148/09 Trib.UE, 17 May 2013, Parker ITR, Case T-154/09 The three judgments rendered by the Tribunal in the Marine Pipe case are most interesting in that they provide jurisprudence at different levels of analysis, from the establishment (...)

Dirk Van Erps, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Digital evidence gathering : An update

May 2013 1560

This set of two articles is a follow-up of two studies published in previous issues of Concurrences on competition digital inquiries (N° 2-2010, pp. 188-192 et N° 2-2009, pp. 69-77). In the first contribution, Dirk Van Erps - DG COMP- describes the general outline of the methodology used by DG (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Concerted practice: The General Court confirms the qualifications of concerted practice by object and single offense in the case of bananas cartel (Telefonica/Portugal Telecom)

May 2013 293

Eur. com. dec. 23 January 2013, Telefonica v Portugal Telecom, Case COMP/39.839, IP/13/39 The Commission has fined Telefonica and Portugal Telecom €89 million for agreeing not to compete with each other on the Iberian telecommunications markets in the context of Portugal Telecom’s (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Restriction by object: The Court of cassation draws the conclusions of the judgement of the CJEU and rejects the appeal in the affair Expedia (Expedia)

16 April 2013 245

Following the Court of Justice’s ruling on the preliminary question referred to it (see this column, ConcurrencesNo. 1-2013, p. 63), the Commission has decided to refer the matter to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.), the Court of Cassation had to resume the proceedings in the (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Bid rigging: The Paris Court of Appeal rejects the actions against the electricity works’ decision (Allez)

28 March 2013 191

In a 2011 decision, the Competition Authority sanctioned ten companies for their participation in concerted actions in the context of calls for tenders for electrification and electrical installation (see this column ConcurrencesNo. 1/2012, p. 100).). Three of these undertakings appealed (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Cooperation: The General Court confirms the qualification of concerted practice by object and of single infringement in the banana cartel case (Fresh Del Monte Produce)

14 March 2013 432

Trib. EU, 14 March 2013, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Case T-587/08 Trib. EU, 14 March 2013, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Case T- 588/08 By a decision of 15 October 2008, the European Commission had condemned Dole for €45 million and Weichert/Del Monte for €14 million for participating in a (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury System for referencing: The French Competition Authority considers that the system for referencing approved opticians is imperfect but without anti-competitive object or effect (Kalivia)

26 February 2013 188

Conc. Aut. conc., Dec. No. 13-D-05 of February 26, 2013, "Kalivia". (see also, column "Unilateral practices",Concurrences, this issue, obs. A. Wachsmann and N. Zacharie) The Authority dismissed parallel referrals concerning the listing process for ophthalmic lens suppliers implemented by (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Post-contractual clauses: The Court of Justice recalls the exemption conditions for post-contractual clauses (The Retoucherie Manuela/Retoucherie Burgos)

7 February 2013 394

CJEU (ord.), 7 February 2013, La Retoucherie de Manuela v. La Retoucherie de Burgos, Case C-117/12. A question was referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling by a Spanish court concerning a dispute between a franchisor and its former franchisee. The Spanish court had more (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury De Minimis notice: The Court of Justice acknowledges the right of national competition authorities to apply Article 101 to a restriction falling into the scope of the De Minimis Notice (Expedia)

13 December 2012 512

CJEU, December 13, 2012, Expedia and others, aff. C-226-11 By a decision of 2009, the Competition Council had imposed sanctions on SNCF and Expedia, and accepted commitments from SNCF in respect of the non-contestation of the objections, in the context of a referral concerning the vertical (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Commitments: The European Commission obtains commitments concerning actions undertaken to limit price competition in the sector of E-books (E-books)

12 December 2012 422

Eureka, Dec. 2012, C(2012)9288, 12 Dec. 2012, e-book, case COMP/39.847 On 1 December 2012, the Commission adopted a decision accepting commitments from four publishers (Hachette, Harper Collins, Holtzbrick and Simon & Schuster) and Apple regarding the marketing of digital books. As a (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Fines: The European Commission imposes EUR 1.47 billion of fine in the case of cathode ray tubes (Cathode ray tubes - CRT)

5 December 2012 153

Eur Com, Dec. 5, 2012, Cathode-ray tubes - CRT, Case COMP/39.437, IP/12/1317 These are two particularly long and structured cartels that the Commission has sanctioned by this decision. The sanctioned practices concern colour tubes for TV sets and computer monitors and would have covered the (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Fine - Suspension: The Paris Court of Appeal rejects a request for suspension in the flour case and clarifies the level of assessment of financial difficulties within groups of companies (Farines alimentaires)

13 November 2012 200

CA Paris, ch.5-7, 13 November 2012, Edible flours, RG n° 12/14436 Expected reversal of case law: the Paris Court of Appeal has returned to the conditions for assessing the manifestly excessive consequences that would result from the immediate implementation of an Authority decision in the (...)

Bernard Amory, David Tayar, Nadine Mouy, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury, Serge Clerckx The pre-notification phase

December 2012 1063

The pre-notification phase has proved to be a useful mean to address “upfront” many of the issues that a concentration may raise, without being bound by the strict timetable of the formal review process. It works well but there is arguably still some room for improvement. The (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Complex and continuous infrigement: The Paris Court of Appeal approves almost without reserve the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal (Historic monuments)

11 October 2012 448

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, 11 October 2012, Monuments historiques, RG 2011/03298 In its "Monuments historiques" decision of 2011, the Competition Authority had sanctioned 14 companies to the tune of almost €10 million for having shared out almost all the public contracts for the restoration of (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Selective distribution: The French Competition Authority warns the suppliers with selective distribution networks and expresses support in favor of the development of pure players over the Internet (Competitive operation in the e-commerce sector)

18 September 2012 640

Concise Aut. opinion No. 12-A-20 of 18 September 2012 on the competitive functioning of electronic commerce. In July 2011, the Competition Authority issued an ex officio referral for an opinion with a view to carrying out an analysis, targeted on certain categories of products and services, (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury De minimis thresholds: The General Advocate Kokott details the consequences of the De minimis Notice on restrictions by object (Expedia)

6 September 2012 316

Opinion of Advocate General Kokott, 6 September 2012, Expedia Inc, Case C-226/11, "Online Travel Sales") The Court of Justice has received a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour de cassation (Court of Cassation) in the Expedia case, in which the Competition Council found that (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Producer’s guarantee – Access to technical information: The European Commission releases frequently asked questions on the automotive sector (Motor vehicle sector)

27 August 2012 228

Eur. Comm, 27 August 2012, Frequently Asked Questions on the application of EU Antitrust rules in the motor vehicle sector This Q&A document is intended to complement the Supplementary Guidelines issued as a follow-up to the review of the Motor Vehicle Exemption Regulation in May 2010 (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Cartels – Inability to pay: The European Commission publishes its first decision of hybrid transaction in the animal feed phosphates cartel case (Animal feed phosphates)

20 July 2012 370

Eur. Comm, dec,20 July 2011, Animal feed phosphates, COMP/38866(1) and (2) The Commission publishes the full versions of the two decisions it adopted in the case of the feed phosphates cartel in respect of the undertakings that settled and the one that abandoned the settlement and for which (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Interbank commissions – Payment modes: The French Competition Authority obtains the early removal of the main interbank commissions on several payment modes (Sector of payment modes)

5 July 2012 250

Aut. conc., Dec. of 5 July 2012 on practices identified in the cashless payment sector Third Authority decision on interbank fees, this time concerning cashless means other than cheques (dealt with by Decision No. 10-D-28 of 20 September 2010) and cards (dealt with, as far as bank cards are (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Fines – Reference turnover: The European Commission readopts fining decisions against two companies for their involvement in the gas insulated switchgear cartel (Gas insulated switchgear)

27 June 2012 151

Eur. comm., Dec. 27 June 2012, Gas Insulated Switchgear, Case COMP/39.966 In 2011, the Court of First Instance annulled the Commission’s cartel decision concerning gas-insulated switchgear in so far as it concerned Mitsubishi and Toshiba for breach of the principle of equal treatment in the (...)

Ahmet Buğra Aydın, Akira Inoue, Amanda Bodger, Arti Raghavan, Bilal Shaukat, Bill Batchelor, Chang-Sik Hwang, David Tadmor, Douwe Groenevelt, Farhad Sorabjee, Gillian Sproul, Gönenç Gürkaynak, Gustavo Flausino Coelho, Jean-Maxime Blutel, Kala Anandarajah, Khaled Attia, Kylie Sturtz, Madeleine Renaud, Marilyn Leblanc, Mario Vogl, Martin Nedelka, Matthew F. Jones, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury, Reeti Choudhary, Shai Bakal, Simon Albert, Simone Evans, Theodore L. Banks, Zeynep Ortaç Best practices for compliance programs: Results of an international survey

May 2012 2348

All companies should employ competition law compliance progams in an attempt to ensure their their employees will follow these complicated laws. Yet, enforcers’ support for competition law compliance programs is wildly inconsistent. A few provide guidance about compliance, and will consider a (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Cartels - Fine: The Paris Court of Appeal states that the basis for fine assessment is the turnover in the relevant sector, even if the decision was handed down before the NCA’s Notice on the setting of financial penalties (Lacroix Signalisation)

29 March 2012 284

against Aut. conc., Dec. no. 10-D-39 of 22 December 2010 relating to practices implemented in the vertical road signs sector On March 29, 2012, the Paris Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the French Competition Authority of December 22, 2010 sanctioning 10 companies in the amount of (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Exclusivity – Resale price maintenance: The French Competition Authority imposes € 35 million fines on the main suppliers of pet food for significantly reducing competition between their distributors (Pet food)

20 March 2012 701

Council Decision No. 12-D-10 of 20 March 2012 on practices in the dog and cat food sector On 20 March 2012, the Competition Authority imposed fines totalling €35 million on the three main producers of dry dog and cat food operating in France. Nestlé Purina Petcare France SAS (Nestlé), Royal (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Cartels - Common sales agency: The French Competition Authority imposes a fine of €242.2 million on flour producers for participating in a number of cartels which organized the milling industry for decades (Food flours)

13 March 2012 555

Concordant Aut. dec. no. 12-D-09 of 13 March 2012 on practices implemented in the food flour sector There are economic sectors in which the players would like to believe that nothing will ever change because they have specific features, are heavily regulated and the structures for organising (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Minimum prices – Withdrawal measures: The French Competition Authority heavily fines producers’ organisations and their associations for agreeing on minimum prices of endives (Production and trade of endives)

6 March 2012 325

Const. dec. no. 12-D-08 of 6 March 2012 on practices implemented in the production and marketing of endives The Competition Authority sanctioned 10 endive producer organizations and seven professional associations and unions for agreeing on a global plan to set minimum selling prices for (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Restriction by object: The Paris Court of Appeal alters the decision of the French Competition Authority in the checks digitisation commissions case for failure to establish the existence of an anticompetitive object (Crédit Lyonnais)

23 February 2012 586

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, 23 February 2012, Crédit Lyonnais and others; against Aut. conc., dec. no. 10-D-28 of 20 September 2010 relating to the rates and related conditions applied by banks and financial institutions for the processing of cheques submitted for collection, "Exchange of cheque (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Standard of proof – Parental liability: The General Court significantly reduces of the duration of the infringement for a company but maintains the finding that another company shall bear joint and several liability in the sodium chlorate case (Aragonesas Industrias y Energía and Uralita)

15 February 2012 428

Trib. EU, 25 October 2011, Aragonesas Industrias y Energia v Commission, Case T-348/08, "Sodium Chlorate". Trib. EU, 25 October 2011, Uralita v Commission, Case T-349/08 "Sodium Chlorate". It is recalled that the Commission had imposed cumulative fines totalling 79 million on four groups (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Exchange of information: The General Court confirms most of the Commission’s decision in the plastic industrial bag cartel, but annuls one of the fines and reduces another one (Packaging, Kendrion, RKW, Low & Bonar, Stempher, Groupe Gascogne, Plasticos Españoles, Armando Álvarez, Sachsa Verpackung)

15 February 2012 402

GCEU, 16 November 2011, Fardem Packaging v. Commission, case T-51/06, "Plastic industrial bags". UECG, 16 November 2011, Kendrion v. Commission, Case T-54/06, "Plastic industrial bags". GCEU, 16 November 2011, RKW a.o. v. Commission, joined cases T-55/06 and T-66/06, "Plastic industrial (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Single complex and continuous infringement : The European Commission imposes fines in a detergent cartel after applying leniency and settlement procedures (Consumer Detergents)

15 February 2012 1732

Eur. Comm, 13 April 2011, Consumer Detergents, Case COMP/39579 The benefits to the Commission of leniency and settlement proceedings are particularly evident when, as in this case, all the companies concerned participate: the decision was issued in less than 3 years and is only 25 pages (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Complex and continuous infringement: The French Competition Auhtority heavily fines a cartel in the detergent sector on the basis of its new Guidelines on fines (Detergent sector)

15 February 2012 1147

Concordant Aut. dec. no. 11-D-17 of 8 December 2011 on practices implemented in the detergent industry By a decision of 8 December 2011 - and amended on 4 January 2012 to increase the fine for one of the undertakings concerned - the Authority adopted its most significant penalty decision of (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Call for tenders: The French Competition Auhtority fines anticompetitive behaviour in the frame of public and private calls for tenders and sheds light on the application which will likely be made of the “tender” exception in the new Guidelines on Fines (Sector of electrical works in the Midi-Pyrénées, Languedoc-Roussillon, Auvergne and neighboring regions)

15 February 2012 488

Aut. conc. dec. no. 11-D-13 of 5 October 2011 relating to practices identified in the sectors of electrification and electrical installation work in the Midi-Pyrénées, Languedoc-Roussillon, Auvergne and neighbouring regions. On October 5, 2011, the Competition Authority issued a decision (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Trade union – Price recommendations: The French Competition Authority reminds that the release of price recommendations by a trade union is likely to lead to heavy fines for the trade union itself and its members, whatever the actual effect of these practices (Leisure, culture and tourism engineering services)

12 January 2012 307

Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-D-02 of 12 January 2012 on practices implemented in the leisure, culture and tourism engineering sector The Competition Authority has sanctioned a professional association and 10 of its members for having set and disseminated price instructions. Although the practices (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Price listings made within a competitor’s outlet: The Court of Cassation regards price listings carried out within competitors’ premises as lawful and a guarantee for the free setting of prices through competition (Hyper Saint-Aunès/Carrefour)

4 October 2011 609

Cass. com, October 4, 2011, Hyper Saint-Aunès c/ Carrefour hypermarkets, n° 10-21862 (See also, infra, "Distribution" column, obs. N. Ereseo) It has been known since the case of motorway fuel distribution that the direct and voluntary communication between competitors of the prices they (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Imputability: The Court of Justice imposes a reinforced obligation to state reasons on the European Commission in the mono-chlorine acetic case (Arkema, Elf Aquitaine)

29 September 2011 771

CJEU, September 29, 2011, Arkema v. Commission, Case C-520/09 P, "Monochloroacetic acid". CJEU, 29 September 2011, Elf Aquitaine v Commission, Case C-521/09 P, "Monochloroacetic acid". It will be remembered that the Monochloroacetic Acid Cartel (MCAA) case gave rise to one of the most (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Imputability - Fines: The General Court rules on the implementation of the parental liability presumption to the same undertakings concerned by the hydrogen peroxide cartel case (Arkema France, Total et Elf Aquitaine)

14 July 2011 539

GCEU, 14 July 2011, Arkema France v. Commission, case T-189/06, "Hydrogen peroxide and perborate". GCEU, 14 July 2011, Total and Elf Aquitaine v. Commission, case T-190/06, "Hydrogen peroxide and perborate". A few weeks before the Court ruled in the monchloroacetic acid case (see previous (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Damage to the economy: The Paris Court of Appeal confirms the decision of the Competition Authority in the mobile telephony case (Orange France)

30 June 2011 715

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, June 30, 2011, Orange France; on second reference after cassation, against Cons. conc. dec. no. 05-D-65 of November 30, 2005, "Mobile Telephony". In 2005, the French Competition Council sanctioned the three French mobile telephone operators to a total of 534 million euros (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Standard of proof: The General Court reviews the evidence in the Dutch beer cartel and reduces fines (Bavaria, Heineken)

16 June 2011 596

GCEU, 16 June 2011, Bavaria v. Commission, Case T-235/07, "Netherlands beer market". GCEU, 16 June 2011, Heineken Nederland and Heineken v. Commission, Case T-240/07, "Netherlands beer market". In 2007, the Commission imposed particularly heavy fines on the two companies concerned (€242 (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Imputability – Fines: The General Court approves the Commission’s decision on all counts in the Sodium chlorate case (Elf Aquitaine, Arkema)

17 May 2011 671

Trib. EU, 17 May 2011, Elf Aquitaine v Commission, Case T-299/08, "Sodium Chlorate". Trib. UE, 17 May 2011, Arkema France v Commission, Case T-343/08, "Sodium Chlorate". It is sometimes difficult to read the judgments of the Court of First Instance together: a few weeks before delivering a (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Exclusivity – Commitments: The French Competition Authority obtains an exclusivity-free period to foster competition in the sector of gift cards (Accentiv’Kadéos)

27 April 2011 560

Concordant Aut. dec. no. 11-D-08 of April 27, 2011 relating to practices implemented by Accentiv’Kadéos (See also, infra, column "Unilateral practices", obs. A. Wachsmann) In 2009, the company Titre Cadeaux filed a petition with the French Competition Authority and requested protective (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury ECSC Treaty – Accountability of the conduct: The Court of Justice approves proceedings opened post the expiry of the ECSC Treaty and wipes out the hopes arising from the conclusions of its Advocate general on the allocation of responsibilities within groups of companies (ThyssenKrupp Nirosta, ArcelorMittal Luxembourg)

29 March 2011 881

CJEU, 29 March 2011, ThyssenKrupp Nirosta (formerly ThyssenKrupp Stainless) v Commission, case C-352/09 P CJEU, 29 March 2011, ArcelorMittal Luxembourg v Commission and Commission v ArcelorMittal Luxembourg, cases C-201/09 P and C-216/09 P. (See also, infra, "Procedures" column, obs. A. (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Effect on trade between Member States: The Court of Cassation puts an end to the extensive and interested interpretation of the concept of “effect on trade between Member States” by the French Competition Authority (Total Réunion, Supply of kerosene to Air France on the Reunion island)

1 March 2011 1157

Cass. com, March 1, 2011, Total Réunion, Total Outre-Mer [auto] Total Outre-Mer , Pétroles Shell, Chevron et Esso, n° 09-72655, 09-72657, 09-72705, 09-72830 et 09-72894, "Fourniture en kérosène d’Air France à la Réunion" (Air France’s kerosene supply on Reunion Island) It will be recalled (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Bid-rigging – Fines: The French Competition Authority issues a decision which hardly illustrates the draft guidelines on fines (Painting services for naval equipments and engineering structures)

24 February 2011 701

Concordant Aut. dec. no. 11-D-07 of February 24, 2011 on practices implemented in the sector of painting of metallic infrastructures On the substance, this new case of a bidding cartel is of limited interest, except that it, like a few others, raises questions about the weakness of the (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Accountability of the conduct: The Advocate general Mengozzi issues an opinion on accountability of the conduct of a subsidiary to the parent company (Arkema, Elf Aquitaine)

17 February 2011 995

Opinion of AG Mengozzi, 17 February 2011, Arkema v. Commission, case C-520/09 P, "Monochloroacetic Acid". Opinion of AG Mengozzi, 17 February 2011, Elf Aquitaine v. Commission, case C-521/09 P, "Monochloroacetic Acid ". The two pending appeals relate to the decision of January 19, 2005 by (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Ancillary restraints: The French Competition Authority approves without much discussion a clause restricting the ability to join another group during 2 years, combined with a preference clause (Sector of fresh fruits, vegetables and sea products wholesale)

15 February 2011 1232

Council Regulation (EC) No 11-D-03 of 15 February 2011 on practices in the wholesale trade of fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood products. In a decision to dismiss the case, the Authority validated a 2-year non-reaffiliation clause with a preferential right under conditions that left a (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Bid-rigging – Accountability of the conduct: The French Competition Authority fully adopts the European case-law on the allocation of responsibility within groups of companies (Restoration of historic monuments in France)

26 January 2011 1211

Const. dec. no. 11-D-02 of 26 January 2011 on practices implemented in the restoration of historic monuments The Monuments Historiques decision is not just another procurement allocation decision. It is an opportunity for the Authority to clarify and even develop its practice in several (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Concurrences of wills: The Paris Court of Appeal partially annuls a French Competition Authority decision for insufficient commercial autonomy of a joint venture with its shareholders (Perrigault et Terminal Porte Océane, Le Havre port handling)

20 January 2011 896

against Aut. conc., Dec. no. 10-D-13 of 15 April 2010 on practices implemented in the handling sector for the transport of containers at the port of Le Havre The question of the application of Articles 101 TFEU and L. 420-1 of the French Commercial Code to relations between a parent company (...)

Alain Bazot, Antoine Chapsal, Christopher J. Kelly, Emmanuelle Claudel, Joseph Minta, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Reshuffling antitrust fining policy: The ADLC draft guidelines

February 2011 2996

The papers gathered in this section illustrate the new sanctions policy of the French Competition Authority, following the release of draft guidelines on 17th January 2011. In her contribution, Me Jalabert Doury focuses on the mechanisms proposed in the draft guidelines. Professor Emmanuelle (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Public tender - Fines: The French Competition Authority fines a cartel in the road signs sector (Road signs cartel)

22 December 2010 1660

Concordance No. 10-D-39 of 22 December 2010 on practices implemented in the vertical road signage industry The organised cartel - uncovered by a criminal search carried out at a cartel meeting - concerned the vertical road signs sector. The decision reports that the cartel members shared out (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Probative value of statements – Accountability of the conduct: The European Commission publishes the full version of its heat stabilizers cartel decision “Heat stabilizers”

11 November 2009 1317

Eur. Comm. dec. C(2009) 8682 final of 11 November 2009, "Thermal Stabilisers", Case COMP/38589 The Commission has published its decision in the 2009 Heat Stabilisers case, in which it fined 24 companies producing plastic additives a total of €173 million for two complex and continuous (...)

Ana Barros Feiteira, Angie Ng, Benoît Merkt, Camilla Jain Holtse, Christian Hagerman, Christian Nielsen, David T. Fischer, Dieter Hauck, Graeme Edgerton, Inigo Igartua, Kiri Tahana, Lesley Farrell, Martijn Snoep, Martin Klusmann, Massimo Merola, Michael Reiss, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury, Nathan J. Muyskens, Nick Taylor, Rayan Houdrouge, Sara Lembo, Serge Bourque, Shreeya Smith, Suzanne Kingston, Teresa Lorca Morales, Tommy Pettersson Digital evidence searches in competition investigations: Best Practices for effective fundamental rights Results of an international survey among defense lawyers

December 2009 7538

Un programme de recherche international regroupant des avocats de la défense a été constitué sous l’égide de Concurrences afin de comparer les protections mises en place dans 15 régimes différents pour assurer le respect des droits fondamentaux dans le cadre des investigations informatiques. (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Digital evidence in competition enquiries: The French regime at stakes

May 2009 4979

The new Competition Authority is now vested with investigation powers and begins effectively implementing them. Some changes might follow in the methods and practical means implemented so far by the National Division for Competition Investigations of the Ministry for the Economy. The angle (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Leniency – Imputability: The European Commission releases the full version of the Candle Waxes decision, with interesting developments on probative value of documents and statements as well as on liability in case of joint ventures and agents (Candle waxes)

1 October 2008 732

Eur. comm., dec. C(2008) 5476 final, 1st October 2008, "Candle waxes", case COMP/39181 The Commission issued a 2008 decision sanctioning a long-term cartel in the candle wax sector. The total amount of the fines in this case was €676 million, with several companies benefiting from leniency (...)

Laurent Nouvel, Matthew Gaved, Nadine Mouy, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury, Thomas Hoehn Merger remedies: A call for a stricter control

May 2007 8141

The credibility of the system of merger control relies on the fact that firms comply with the remedies. The importance of this issue has been increased by the development of behavioural remedies and by the increasing complexity of the different types of structural remedies. In this context, (...)

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Oral statements in antitrust law procedure

May 2005 6943

For a long time, competition authorities required written evidence of the infraction. At times authorities recorded oral statements, but statements were essentially used to confirm written evidence. Nevertheless, an evolution occurred : the authorities have accepted more and more statements as (...)

Bulletin

Foreword

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury Competition Investigations & Dawn Raids: An overview of EU and national case law

15 September 2022 1253

For many months, competition inspections have been impossible and almost everywhere Authorities have seen a sharp decrease in leniency applications, calling for additional detection tools. The inability to perform dawn raids therefore was immediately seen as a threat to efficient competition enforcement. New techniques have been developed in order to investigate remotely as much as possible. IT investigation methodologies and tools have also been refined and Covid protocols have been adopted. Eventually, cases have also been listed for future investigative actions, and since inspections are possible again, many authorities are back within companies with still an impressive backlog of potential investigations. This is the right time for legal departments to consider updating existing response procedures to reflect the most recent developments and verifying that they are still efficient after months without occurrence of a raid and knowing many companies have completely changed the way work is organized during the pandemic.

Adriana Franco Giannini, Isabella Neves Giorgi Brazilian Antitrust: An overview of the antitrust regulation and enforcement

3 April 2018 43

This article aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the Brazilian Antitrust Regulation that rules both anticompetitive conducts and merger control investigations. It shall also provide a wider perspective of such Regulation enforcement.

Richard Steuer Resale Price Maintenance in the United States: An overview of leading cases

23 June 2016 1462

In the United States, a claim for violation of the competition laws for resale price maintenance almost always requires proof of a bilateral or multilateral agreement involving two or more actors. Unilateral conduct is not prohibited unless it constitutes the willful acquisition or maintenance (...)

European Union

Gillian Sproul, Jens Peter Schmidt, Kiran Desai, Nathalie Jalabert-Doury The EU Commission blocks a merger due to its potential effect on EU financial derivatives traded on the stock exchange (NYSE Euronext / Deutsche Börse)

1 February 2012 414

On 1st February 2012, the European Commission adopted its decision prohibiting the USD 10.2 billion merger between Deutsche Börse (DB) and NYSE Euronext (NYSE). The decision is notable not the least because it is rare for the Commission to block a merger. Only 21 have been blocked (...)

France

Nathalie Jalabert-Doury, Aymeric De Moncuit, Sarah Wilks, Camille Hoogterp The French Competition Authority publishes its opinion on the state of competition in the cloud computing sector

29 June 2023 79

Introduction On 29 June 2023, the French Competition Authority (the authority) released its opinion on competition in the cloud computing (the cloud) sector (the opinion). The opinion sets out the authority’s thoughts on possible market definitions in the sector, and provides some relatively (...)

Philippines

Bradford McCormick, Joseph Tato, Paolo S. Boado, Paul P. Chen The Philippine Congress passes the Competition Act that aims to safeguard fair and competitive market conditions

21 July 2015 149

The Philippine Congress has passed, and President Benigno Aquino III is expected to sign into law, the Philippine Competition Act. The law, which aims to safeguard fair and competitive market conditions, marks the nation’s first foray into antitrust legislation. Under the new law, practices (...)

United States of America

Thomas Ensign, Mary Lehner, Bruce McCulloch, Paul Yde, Robert Schlossberg, Richard S. Snyder The US DoJ files a complaint seeking to partially unwind a merger between two producers of aviation fuel filtration products on the basis that it substantially lessens competition in the market (Clarcor / Parker-Hannifin)

26 September 2017 84

On September 26, 2017 the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint in the US District Court for the District of Delaware seeking to partially unwind a merger between two producers of aviation fuel filtration products. In its complaint, the DOJ (...)

Richard Steuer Resale Price Maintenance in the United States: An overview of leading cases

23 June 2016 1462

Meytal McCoy, Mika Ikeda The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejects the FTC’s latest pay-for-delay challenge (Solvay / Watson / Paddock)

25 April 2012 497

On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) complaint against four pharmaceutical companies: Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Par Pharmaceuticals, and Paddock Laboratories. The (...)

Robert E. Bloch, Scott P. Perlman The US FTC and the US DOJ issue final policy statement of antitrust enforcement policy regarding "accountable care organizations"

20 October 2011 101

This article has been nominated for the 2013 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Analysis of Policy Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy Regarding Accountable Care Organizations* Section 2706 of the Patient Protection and Affordable (...)

Mark McLaughlin The New York Attorney General relies on New York General Business Code in a petition challenging restrictions on advertised prices used by a leading mattress manufacturer (Tempur-Pedic)

29 March 2010 183

In a series of articles and public statements, enforcement officials from the New York Attorney General’s office have warned that vertical agreements to fix minimum resale prices, also referred to as minimum resale price maintenance (RPM) agreements, may remain per se unlawful under existing (...)

Richard Steuer The US Supreme Court reverses a lower court’s decision clarifying competitive injury and secondary price line discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act (Volvo Trucks / Reeder-Simco)

10 January 2006 652

Competitive Injury and Price Discrimination in the United States* In Volvo Trucks North America, Inc. v. Reeder-Simco GMC, Inc., the Supreme Court provided guidance on whether, under the Robinson-Patman Act, a manufacturer may offer one dealer better prices than another dealer when those (...)