Penny Coombs is an associate director with Osborne Clarke’s London office, which she joined in 2012 after training at the firm. Penny acts on domestic and international disputes conducted through both arbitration and civil litigation, as well as advising on alternative approaches to dispute resolution to meet her clients’ objectives. These include formal mechanisms such as mediation, and commercial approaches that minimise cost. She has particular expertise in cartel and competition damages claims, including collective actions, and is familiar with the challenges of cross-border disputes and litigation involving multiple jurisdictions and proceedings. Penny also has extensive experience in negotiating and managing third party litigation funding arrangements, and has advised on such agreements as an independent third party. Her practice ranges across Osborne Clarke’s key sectors, with a particular focus on tech, media and comms, including contentious data privacy issues, and contingent workforce solutions. She is also a qualified solicitor advocate. Prior to joining Osborne Clarke, Penny worked at management level in both public and private sector organisations and also has in-house legal experience, having spent six months in the Commercial department of a global telecoms provider.
22
Brief summary of facts Sainsbury’s brought an action before the High Court seeking a declaration that the multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) set by Visa for transactions in the UK (the UK MIFs) were, at the relevant times, unlawful as being contrary to Article 101(1) of the TFEU and/or the (...)
50
Brief summary of facts The collective proceedings combine follow-on claims for damages under S. 47A of the CA 1998 caused by the proposed Defendants’ infringement of Article 101(1) of the TFEU as determined in two EU cartel decisions from 16 May 2019: 1) The Forex - 3-way Banana Split (...)
34
Brief summary of facts The collective proceedings combine follow-on claims for damages under S. 47A of the CA 1998 caused by the proposed Defendants’ infringement of Article 101(1) of the TFEU as determined in two EU cartel decisions from 16 May 2019: 1) The Forex – 3-way Banana Split (...)
62
Brief summary of facts The dispute arose from an ’interconnector’ submarine cable supplied by ABB, which connects the UK National Grid to the Dutch TenneT grid. It emerged in the European Commission’s ruling of 2014 that a cartel (of which ABB was a member) had sold cable capacity during the (...)
25
Brief summary of facts Unlockd Ltd and Unlockd Media Technology Ltd (the claimants) develop a software application (app) for users of smartphones using the Android operating system as a means of delivering advertisements to consumers on the unlocking of their Android device. The app is (...)
41
Brief summary of facts The claims are for the damages of a large number of rail passengers who have suffered loss as a result of the conduct of the Respondent/Proposed Defendant. The proposed class members are holders of Transport for London (“TfL”) zonal tickets (“Travelcards”) who have (...)
22
Brief summary of facts RHA is applying for a collective proceedings order (“CPO”) permitting it to act as the class representative bringing a collective damages action on an opt-in basis. The proposed collective proceedings would combine follow-on actions for damages arising from a July 2016 (...)
23
Brief summary of judgment Summary judgment and jurisdiction ruling: May 2018 The High Court held that the claim against the First Defendant had no real prospect of success. Qualcomm (UK) Limited was not the owner of the relevant patents. Therefore, it had not taken on any relevant (...)
16
Brief summary of facts UKTC is applying for a collective proceedings order (“CPO”) permitting it to act as the class representative bringing a collective damages action on an opt-out basis. The proposed collective proceedings would combine follow-on actions for damages arising from a July (...)
17
Brief summary of facts In 2011 and 2012, the European Commission delivered infringement decisions against several companies for participation in worldwide cathode ray tube and specialist glass cartels. [1] Most addressees of these decisions appealed, and these appeals were largely dismissed (...)
19
Brief summary of facts The action is based on the European Commission’s 2007 decision finding that MasterCard’s EEA multilateral interchange fees (“MIFs”) breached Article 101(1) TFEU. Mr Merricks (the applicant/ proposed class representative) applied for a collective proceedings order (...)
16
Brief summary of facts Vodafone brought an action against Infineon and Renesas to claim damages allegedly suffered as a result of the smart card chips cartel. The action was partly a follow-on from the European Commission’s smart card chips cartel decision, which was appealed and mainly (...)
55
Brief summary of facts Socrates Training Limited, a provider of online training, claimed that both it and the Law Society of England and Wales offer online anti-money laundering (AML) training for law firms on a commercial basis and online training to property lawyers to avoid mortgage (...)
18
Brief summary of facts The action was based on the OFT’s 2014 decision that a manufacturer of mobility scooters, Pride Mobility Products Limited, and eight of its retailers had breached the Chapter I prohibition by agreeing to restrictions on advertising discounts online. The (...)
20
Brief summary of facts Microsoft brought proceedings in its own right and as assignee of the rights of Nokia Corp arising from its acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone business. In 2001, Nokia (as buyer) and Sony Corporation (as seller) concluded a Product Purchase Agreement (PPA) relation to (...)
19
Brief summary of facts The action was based on the European Commission’s November 2008 decision fining four companies a total of EUR1.384 billion for participation in an illegal market-sharing cartel in the car glass sector. The claimants claimed that they made purchases of car glass from (...)
17
Brief summary of facts In 2012 Sainsbury’s filed an action against various MasterCard entities seeking damages for the amounts paid in interchange fees as part of merchant service charges for processing purchases made with MasterCard UK credit and debit cards since December 2006. Sainsbury’s (...)
18
Brief summary of facts In 1997, the claimants sold land to Tesco. Under the transfer agreement, the land retained by the claimants was subject to a covenant "not to use or permit any of the Retained Land to be used for the sale of food convenience goods or pharmacy products". The (...)
50
Brief summary of facts Streetmap alleged that Google abused its dominant position in the online search and/or online search advertising markets by bundling Google Search with Google Maps, thereby depriving users of an undistorted choice of online mapping services; giving Google Maps an (...)
26
Brief summary of facts The claimants are or were all well-known high street retailers. They sought damages for breaches of European and domestic competition law in relation to Visa’ imposition of multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) in the course of operating the Visa payment-card system. (...)
37
Brief summary of facts Following an appeal against a non-infringement decision by the Water Services Regulation Authority (“Ofwat”), the CAT held that Dwr Cymru had abused its dominant position in relation to the supply of non-potable water to Albion Water by imposing a margin squeeze and (...)
16
Brief summary of facts On 18 November 2008, the OFT announced that it had decided that, between 19 April 2004 and 18 February 2005, Cardiff Bus engaged in predatory conduct contrary to the Chapter II prohibition of the Competition Act 1998. The OFT found that Cardiff Bus’s actions were (...)
16
Brief summary of facts The named claimants (Emerald) are cut flower importers who use BA’s air freight services. They initially claimed that BA had been party to agreements or concerted practices in breach of the Chapter I prohibition, Article 101 (1) TFEU and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (...)
14
Brief summary of facts The case followed on from the decision by the Commission of the European Communities dated 29 November 2006 in Case COMP/F/38.638 – Butadiene Rubber and Emulsion Styrene Butadiene Rubber. The Commission Decision found 13 companies guilty of an infringement of art 81 of (...)
15
Brief summary of facts The claimants, are all purchasers (either direct or indirect) of vitamins from one or more of the defendants. The defendants, in particular, Sanofi-Aventis SA (Aventis), Hoffman-La Roche (Roche) and BASF AG, are manufacturers of vitamins who were found by the European (...)
19
Brief summary of facts The UK’s Premier League (PL) owns the intellectual property rights relating to the screening of Premier League football matches. The defendant, Ms Murphy, was the landlady of a public house in Southsea, Hampshire. On becoming the licensee, she cancelled its GBP 6,000 (...)
15
Brief summary of facts The British Horseracing Board (BHB) compiles data relating to horseracing which it licences to third parties through its trading arm BHB Enterprises Limited via a contract to supply data to an unrelated company, PA News Limited (PA). PA then licences authorised third (...)
19
Brief summary of facts Mr Crehan had taken leases for two Inntrepreneur pubs in 1991. The agreements contained provisions requiring him to purchase most of his beer from Courage. Following the failure of his businesses, he was sued by Courage and Inntrepreneur for unpaid debts. In his (...)
