Mai Muto

CJEU REFERS SMART CARD CHIPS CARTEL CASE BACK TO GCEU, DISMISSES PHILIPS APPEAL On 26 September 2018, the CJEU considered that the GCEU had not taken into account certain possibly mitigating circumstances—namely the relatively small number of Infineon’s unlawful contacts with other cartel (...)

Non-EU inward investors in Germany should be aware of recent developments in German Government policy towards foreign investment in strategic infrastructure and security sensitive areas. Electricity infrastructure is an area that is particularly sensitive for strategic and security (...)

On 27 July 2018 the French Competition Authority (FCA) imposed a EUR 20 million fine on Fnac Darty for failing to comply with its divestment commitments following Fnac’s acquisition of the Darty group. This is the first time the FCA has imposed a fine on a company for failing to comply with a (...)

All State Aid decisions taken by the EC can be subject to an action for annulment. In practice, however, it has been very difficult for complainants to successfully bring admissible actions for annulment of EC decisions approving aid because of EU courts’ strict interpretation of the locus (...)

On 25 July 2018 the CJEU dismissed an appeal by Orange Polska SA against a GCEU judgment upholding an EC decision that imposed a fine of more than EUR 127 million on Orange for abusing its dominant position. The CJEU confirmed that, as in the case of a cartel, the EC does not have to take (...)

Vertical restrictions, including resale price maintenance (RPM), have not generally been an EC enforcement priority over the last 10 years, but a series of rulings in July 2018 signalled a potential change in that trend. Although the EC considers RPM to be a “hardcore restriction” of (...)

Article L. 430-7-1, II of the French Commercial Code provides that the French Minister of Economy and Finance has the power to re-examine a merger within 25 working days after receiving the French Competition Authority (FCA) decision, for reasons of public interest other than safeguarding (...)

In this difficult case, the EC had to reduce the fines calculated for each of the cartel participants so as to remain within the unalterable limit of 10 per cent of total worldwide group turnover. The EC claimed that it had sought to treat the various cartel participants equally in making the (...)

This judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt/Main of 12 July 2018 applying the preliminary ruling of the CJEU of 6 December 2017 in the case Coty Germany GmbH v Parfümerie Akzente GmbH will reassure manufacturers of luxury products that they can protect such products from unauthorised (...)

On 12 July 2018, by its judgment in Case T-419/14 The Goldman Sachs Group v Commission, the GCEU entirely dismissed the appeal brought by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., against an EC decision in Case AT. 39610 Power Cables, fining Goldman Sachs EUR 37.303 million for its parental liability (...)

On 5 July 2018, the CJEU handed down a judgment in response to a request for a preliminary ruling from the Lithuanian Court of Appeal in which it provided welcome clarifications of the interpretation of Articles 5(3) and 5(5) of Regulation No 44/2001 (Brussels I Regulation). These articles (...)

By order of 12 June 2018, the Vice President of the CJEU dismissed the appeal lodged by Nexans France SAS and Nexans SA (collectively, Nexans) against the order of the President of the GCEU of 12 July 2017. The latter rejected Nexans’s application for an interim injunction to prevent the EC from (...)

This landmark judgment of the German Federal Court of Justice concerns an action for damages relating to the German cement cartel. However, the judgment has much wider implications and is relevant for damage claims relating to other cartel infringements. The Federal Court extended the temporal (...)

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is a joint founder member of Star Alliance, the largest global airline alliance. In addition to the Star Alliance Agreement, Lufthansa concluded with Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) a bilateral alliance agreement, a marketing and sales agreement, and a bilateral joint (...)

When drawing up an acquisition agreement in a transaction that will be notifiable to the EC for clearance under the EUMR, the acquirer must ensure that any veto or similar rights that it has prior to implementation of the transaction are strictly limited to that which is necessary to preserve (...)

The CJEU held that a finding of a “competitive disadvantage” as the result of discriminatory pricing by a dominant undertaking on a downstream market does not require demonstration of an actual and quantifiable deterioration of a customer’s competitive situation on that market. This notion (...)

In its judgment of 10 April 2018, the CJEU decided that Germany did not infringe EU law by extraditing an Italian national to the United States. An EU Member State is not required to extend a prohibition on the extradition of its own nationals to all EU citizens, but before proceeding to (...)

The Higher Regional Court of Hamburg had the opportunity to establish a position regarding potential restrictions of competition in selective distribution arising out of bans on selling products through eBay and similar platforms. The Higher Regional Court referred to recent case law of the (...)

The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf decided that neither online nor offline sellers can invoke exhaustion of rights under Article 15(1) of the EU trademark regulation if they sell high-quality, prestigious cosmetic products without appropriate presentation to avoid impairment of reputation. (...)

When considering whether a measure constitutes State aid for the purposes of Article 107(1) TFEU and applying the well-established private operator principle, one should take into account both the private creditor test and that of the private investor depending on the nature of the transaction. (...)

The so-called Geo-Blocking Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2018/302, became directly applicable throughout the European Union on 3 December 2018. The Regulation is part of the European Union’s single market strategy to enable consumers and businesses to benefit fully from the opportunities offered (...)

This judgment arises out of an application by Edeka- Handelsgesellschaft Hessenring mbH (Edeka) for access to the EC’s decision and table of contents of the file in settlement proceedings concerning four banks involved in the Euro Interest Rate Derivatives (EIRD) cartel. The judgment illustrates (...)

This State aid case gives interesting indications regarding the definition of an undertaking and the economic or non-economic nature of its activities. The GCEU pointed out that merely being in a position of competition on a given market does not determine the economic nature of an activity, (...)

In four separate judgments of 1 February 2018, the CJEU upheld fines imposed by the EC on freight forwarders for participating in cartels in the international air freight forwarding services sector. The case is interesting for its consideration of (i) the fact that the EC relied on evidence (...)

On 24 January 2018 the EC fined Qualcomm EUR 997 million for hindering competition on the market for Long-Term Evolution (LTE) basebands chips, in breach of Article 102 TFEU. Baseband chipsets, which enable smartphones and tablets to connect to cellular networks, are used both for voice and (...)

On 23 January 2018, the CJEU rendered its judgment in the case Hoffman-La Roche and Others v AGCM, providing clarification on important aspects of competition law in the pharmaceutical sector. The CJEU rendered its judgment pursuant to a request for a preliminary ruling by the Italian Council (...)

GENERAL COURT CONFIRMS THAT THE COMMISSION MAY RELY ON LAWFULLY SEIZED RECORDINGS EVEN IF MADE UNLAWFULLY BY A THIRD PARTY* On 8 September 2016 the General Court (“GC”) dismissed Heiploeg’s appeal against the European Commission’s (“Commission”) decision in Shrimps (AT.39633) and confirmed that the (...)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION FINES TRUCK MANUFACTURERS A RECORD €2.93 BILLION FOR CARTEL CONDUCT* On 19 July 2016, the European Commission (Commission) imposed fines totaling €2,926,499,000 on four truck producers (39824 – Trucks). The fine is the highest ever imposed on members of a cartel by the EU (...)

CJEU TO RULE ON EXTRADITION OF EU CITIZENS IN CRIMINAL ANTITRUST PROCEEDINGS The first European citizen to be extradited from Europe to the United States for criminal antitrust conduct recently succeeded in having a Berlin court refer the matter of his extradition to the Court of Justice of (...)

ENHANCED SHARING OF ANTITRUST EVIDENCE: NEW EU/JAPAN COOPERATION AGREEMENT* On 15 March 2016, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) and the European Commission (Commission) announced their intention to upgrade the current antitrust co-operation agreement between Japan and the European Union. (...)