The German Federal Cartel Office fines € 11.5 million a contact lens provider for fixing minimum resale prices and restricting Internet and wholesale sales of its products (CIBA)

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Reference

German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), 25 September 2009, Case n° B 3 - 123/08, CIBA

On September 25, 2009, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) levied a fine of €11.5 million against contact lens provider CIBA Vision Vertriebs GmbH (CIBA) for fixing minimum resale prices and restricting Internet and wholesale sales of its products [1]. This is the third decision imposed by the FCO in 2009, condemning minimum resale price maintenance (RPM) [2] - together with RPM fines levied against Phonak in October 2009 (€4.2 million) and Microsoft in April (€9 million). It is also the only RPM decision the FCO published in 2009. Key findings - in light of recent EU precedents and the ongoing revision of the EU Vertical Block Exemption - are summarized and discussed below. I. FACTS CIBA is Germany's market leader in the wholesale supply of contact lenses. Between 2005 and 2008,

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  • Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson (London)
    United Kingdom 4 contributions 14237 visits

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Tobias Caspary, The German Federal Cartel Office fines € 11.5 million a contact lens provider for fixing minimum resale prices and restricting Internet and wholesale sales of its products (CIBA), 25 September 2009, e-Competitions Bulletin September 2009, Art. N° 29823

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