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The Indian Competition Authority rejects complaint against trademark holders concluding that legitimate assertion of trademark rights is not an abuse of dominance (Prashant Properties / SPS Steels Rolling Mills)Your search returned 156 results Nullity / Voidness
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The CCI rejected at prima facie stage a complaint that SPS Steels Rolling Mills (SPS) and other related entities/individuals had abused their dominant position by making an announcement threatening civil and criminal prosecution of any person using the trademark ‘ELEGANT’ or associated (...)
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Significant imbalance: The French Supreme Court affirms for the first time that the provisions of the former article L. 442-6 C. com. constitute mandatory rules (Expedia)The reader will no doubt recall the judgment of the International Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal dated June 3, 2020, which we reported in the previous issue of this column (CA Paris, ch. com., June 3, 2020, No. 19/03758, Concurrences 3-2020, obs. F. Buy). In response to the question (...) -
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Significant imbalance: The French Supreme Court confirms the nullity of the parity clauses and the last available room in the participation contracts for a property offered by the platform to hoteliers, as contravening the prohibition of clauses providing for automatic alignment with the conditions offered to competitors, but refuses to regard this as a significant imbalance (Expedia)In a much-awaited decision, the Court of Cassation ruled in the Expédia online hotel reservation platform case, and in particular on the various points raised by the Paris Court of Appeal’s decision, which had annulled the parity clauses and the last available room in a didactic decision that was (...) -
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Anticompetitive object: The Paris Court of Appeal refuses to cancel a transaction on the basis of competition law because the said act does not have an anticompetitive object or effect (Vasco)Usually, the parties to a transaction submit their application for annulment of the act on the basis of the policy of defects of consent (Civil Code, arts. 1130 et seq.), or even on the absence of reciprocal concessions (see Civ. 1, 9 July 2003, No. 01-11963). To claim the nullity of a (...) -
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Franchising: The Limoges Court of Appeal rejects an application for annulment of a franchise contract for error on profitability (M.G.M.T. / La Pataterie Développement)Facts. As part of a project to join the "La Pataterie" franchise, an entrepreneur who had been, in a personal capacity, manager of a restaurant and then director of a MACDonald’s for 7 years, had met three "La Pataterie" franchisees and participated in a franchise discovery day, and had been (...) -
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COVID-19: The Government adopts two ordinances relating to the extension of time limits during the period of health emergency and the adaptation of procedures during the same periodThe impact of Orders n° 2020-306 of March 25, 2020 and n° 2020-427 of April 15, 2020 on business contracts In accordance with the authorization granted by Parliament in Emergency Act No. 2020-290 of 23 March 2020 to deal with the covid-19 epidemic, the Government adopted "deadline" Ordinance No. (...) -
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Mélanges en l’honneur du professeur Bernard Teyssié, Jean-François CESARO and Arnaud MARTINON (dir.)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 (...) -
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Franchise :The Douai Court of Appeal rules on the nullity of a brand agreement triggered by deceit arising from failure to provide pre-contractual information (Cooloccaz / La Charlane)Less than one year after having concluded, for the operation of a discount store, a contract of membership to a central purchasing office with the use of a common sign, the operator shall summon the central purchasing office for nullity of the contract for lack of pre-contractual information. (...) -
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Nullity/Voidness : An overview of EU and national case law1. Introduction The only sanction for infringement of the EU competition rules that is mentioned explicitly in the TFEU is the automatic nullity or voidness of agreements or decisions that infringe Article 101(1) TFEU and do not satisfy the requirements of Article 101(3). Nevertheless, there (...) -
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The Italian Supreme Court sheds light on the severance of anti-competitive clauses of a banking personal guarantee contract (De Gregorio / Banca Promos)Introduction Article 2 of the Italian Competition Law no. 287/1990 (ICL), which is equal to Article 101 TFEU, provides that an agreement that restrains competition is void. By its judgment rendered in De Gregorio et al v Banca Promos, the Italian Court of Cassation has considered the reach of (...) -
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Italy: The Italian Supreme Court and the Court of Pescara, Ancona, Taranto, Napoli and Verona rule once again on the validity of omnibus bank guarantee contracts with regard to the competition law (ABI)The dispute over the validity of omnibus bank guarantee contracts under anticompetitive practice law does not weaken, as the Italian Court of Cassation and certain substantive courts have once again ruled on applications for the nullity of guarantee contracts entered into with banking (...) -
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The High Court of Delhi rules that proceedings and orders passed by the Competition Commission of India cannot be invalidated by way of constitutional defects (Cadd)In April 2019, a Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi had declared two provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 unconstitutional and void. All other provisions of the Competition Act were held to be valid subject to a number of orders including that “the Central Government shall take (...) -
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Abusive practices: The Saint-Denis de la Réunion court of appeal, out of the list of the specialized juridictions for the purpose of article L. 442-6 of the Fr. Com. Code, rules on the merits of payments for services rendered by a central referencing pool, based on the relevant rules on the written agreement and the binding force of the contract (Sofexi / Profima)The reported dispute was between Profima, an SEO centre based in La Réunion, whose mission is to list suppliers on behalf of large retailers. On March 22nd , 2007 and then on February 29th , 2008, Profima signed framework commercial cooperation agreements with a supplier, Sofexi, for the supply (...) -
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Selective distribution: The Paris Court of appeal validates the criterion of holding a physical point of sale defined by the promoter of a selective distribution network (Concurrence / Samsung Electronics France)An independent distributor of consumer electronics products, in particular televisions, operates a physical point of sale and an online sales site. Since the 2000s, it has been marketing Samsung brand products, in particular "Elite" range flat screen televisions. Its relations with the French (...) -
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Significant imbalance: The Paris Court of Appeal finds itself at prey to the torments of prescription of a claim based on a significant imbalance (Econocom France / Bois & Matériaux)A major player in the distribution of wood and building materials has entered into a so-called "upgradeable" IT equipment rental contract with a specialised company, which is materialised by a contractual package and includes in particular a "technology exchange option" which consists of (...) -
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Franchise: The Paris Court of Appeal refers to the possibility of contractually adjusting the effects of an unlawful clause under competition law (Process Patrimoine et Finances / CrediPro France)It is worth noting one decision, part of the solution of which is worthy of note, as it once again raises the question of the relationship between the law of anti-competitive practices and ordinary contract law. In this case a franchisee had challenged the validity of his franchise agreement (...) -
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Italy: The Courts of Belluno, Perugia, Torino, Roma, Velletri, Pesaro, Spoleto, Forlì and Siena and the Italian Supreme Court rule on the conformity of security bond contracts with competition law (ABI)In Italy, the substantive courts once again ruled on applications to annul the guarantee contracts entered into with banks which, to that end, had reproduced a contractual scheme distributed in 2003 by the Italian Banking Association (hereinafter ’ABI’), some provisions of which had been (...) -
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Exclusive distribution: The Paris Court of Appeal rules that the author’s appeal is void, but accepts the validity of the parent company’s appeal in the case of the exclusive distribution of convenience goods in Wallis and Futuna (General Import, A.D.L.P.)In a judgment delivered on 16 May 2019the Paris Court of Appeals, Chamber 5-7 of the Paris Court of Appeals declared one appeal (General Import) null and void, the validity of another (ADLP Holding) and reopened the proceedings following the appeals lodged against Decision No. 18-D-21 of 8 (...) -
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Exclusive distribution: The Paris Court of appeal holds a ruling on the licensor’s liability following the voidance of a contract (Bourgoin Spirit / Esprit de Corp)In 2005, a clothing retailer, E., signed a concession contract with BS for a clothing retail store in Bourgoin Jallieu. At the end of 2009, the company E. tacitly authorised the managers to sell the products of its brand in a second establishment, located in Tignieu-Jameyzieu, operated by the (...) -
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Public market: The Marseille Administrative Court of Appeal recalls the conditions under which it is possible to award a negotiated procurement contract following a call for bid which failed (Loximat / Commune de Rognac)The decision of the Administrative Court of Appeal of Marseille of 1 April 2019 illustrates the difficulty for local authorities, especially the smallest among them, to master a public procurement law that has been in flux for several decades. The fact that the proceedings giving rise to the (...) -
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Italy: Tribunals of Napoli, Cuneo, Padua, Trapani, Teramo and Verona refuse to annul contracts concluded after the implementation of a cartel discovered after the conclusion of these contracts (ABI)The "omnibus bonds" on which the Court of Cassation had ruled in 2017 (Cass. civ., 20 Sept. 2017, Albatel v. Unicredit, No. 29810, published on 12 Dec. 2017, see our commentary, Concurrences No. 1-2018, p. 204) have not finished fuelling the litigation before the courts of substance. An (...) -
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Franchise: The Paris Court of Appeal rejects the franchisee’s demands, based on nullity for lack of pre-contractual information and lack of know-how (ECB Cash / Cash Converters Europe)It is not uncommon for franchisees who are disappointed with the business they have undertaken to turn to the courts to obtain the nullity of the contract or, failing that, its termination at the franchisor’s expense and/or compensation for the franchisor’s failure to perform its obligations. (...) -
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Nullity: The French Supreme Court presumes the fraudulent reluctance in case of failure by the transferor of shares to its pre-contractual obligation of information to the buyer (Ipanema)Widely accepted in case-law and already appearing in special laws (not art. L. 330-3 C. com.), the reform of the law of contract has enshrined in the Civil Code an obligation of pre-contractual information (art. 1112-1). This consecration raises the question of the place to be accorded to this (...) -
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Non-competition clause: The summary judgment magistrate of the Paris Court of appeals invalidates a non-competition clause inconsistent with the article L. 341-2 of the commercial Code (Era France / Vision Méditerranée Immobilier)Linked to the franchisor since 2003, for the operation of a real estate agency in Antibes, the franchised company notified the franchisor in 2016 of its intention not to renew the contract, which was concluded in 2012 and expired on January 6, 2018. A few weeks after the expiry of the contract, (...) -
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Franchise: The Paris Court of Appeal considers the franchise contract void for lack of consent due to the franchisor’s breach of its legal obligations of precontractual information (A.D.A, EDA, ADA Services / Chris & Tif)The Pre-Contractual Disclosure Document (PCD), which is an indispensable prerequisite for the conclusion of a franchise agreement, has always given rise to an abundance of case law. The judgment under comment deals with the obligation to provide the PID in the event of renewal of the contract (...) -
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Practice of inclusion of reduction due to grade II leniency in the transaction rangeWhat we call ’inclusive settlement’ covers the settlement which includes the reduction of leniency in the fork of fines of the settlement. This practice, applied by the investigation services, forces companies to compromise on ’clemency’, whereas they should retain any possibility of appeal against (...) -
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Private enforcement of antitrust law in France (Sep. 2017 – Feb. 2018)The decisions commented in this article confirm the main features of the private enforcement of antitrust law in France. It is still a varied litigation between businesses. In follow-on litigations, claimants experience some recurring problems regarding prescription and passing on defence. In (...) -
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Right of defence: The Paris Court of Appeal declares an inspection decision void because of the impossibility for the company to request the immediate and effective assistance of a lawyer (Darty and Fils)This order is in line with a series of previous decisions confirming the importance of the role of counsel in access and seizure operations from the outset. Following a lengthy procedure and in the context of a referral after cassation, the Paris Court of Appeal, in its order of March 3, 2018, (...) -
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Collateral damages or the unexpected effects of the new French settlement procedureThe settlement procedure that has recently been introduced in France is highly successful. However, it is not without producing effects, some unexpected, that might be considered damaging. The procedure’s application leads to exclude the application of the communiqué on the calculation of (...) -
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Proceedings: The Paris Court of Appeal, following a decision not deprived of contradictions, confirmed the discutable decision given by the French Competition Authority in the case concerning a cartel between manufacturers of professional kitchens (GIF)In a ruling handed down on 18 January 2018The Paris Court of Appeal once again confirmed in all respects the analysis, which was highly questionable in certain respects, adopted by the Competition Authority in the so-called "haute cuisine" equipment case, which, it will be remembered, marked (...) -
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Transfer of client base: The Paris Court of Appeal cancels the post-contractual non-compete clause provided in a franchise agreement because of its incompatibility with the franchisor’s agreement to transfer its clients to the franchisee (Eclade, Esole, Main Street, Erwan Flatres, Cle Anglaise, Success Story, Success Story le Mans / Bernard et Nicolas Soinne, Educational Programs Master France)The judgment under comment is curious, both in terms of the situation which is its argument and in terms of the solution which it seems to enshrine. The situation was the result of two agreements concluded between a master franchisee and certain franchisees of the network it had created. The (...) -
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The Italian Supreme Court confirms the claim for nullity of a personal guarantee as being a violation of the antitrust regulation (ABI)By its decision No. 29810 of 12/12/2017, the Italian Supreme Court overruled the judgement of the Court of Appeal of Venice that had rejected the claim for nullity of a personal guarantee in violation of the antitrust regulation. The dispute submitted to the Court of Appeal of Venice - as a (...) -
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Jurisdiction: The Court of Justice of the European Union rules that a commitment decision concerning certain agreements between undertakings, adopted by the European Commission, does not preclude national courts from examining whether those agreements comply with the competition rules and, if necessary, declaring those agreements void (Gasorba/Repsol)On 23 November 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered a judgment on the basis of Article 101(2) TFEU, where the Commission had previously accepted commitments concerning the same agreement and made them binding in a decision taken under Article 9(1) of that Regulation. very (...) -
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Italy: The Italian Supreme Court rules on the nullity of a contract concluded downstream of an anti-competitive agreement found after the conclusion of this contract (Albatel c/ Unicredit)In its ruling of 20 September 2017, published on 12 December of the same year, the Court of Cassation ruled on the nullity of a contract entered into following the implementation of an unlawful agreement in the banking sector which was found to have been entered into after the conclusion of the (...) -
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Fines: The French commercial Supreme Court confirms the judgement of the Paris Court of appeal and rules that a contracting authority may not seek, under certain circumstances, the annulment of the contracts signed with the successful tenderers even if the latter have exchanged information during the tender (EDF c/ Nexans)While the sanctioning of anti-competitive practices generally implies, at the administrative level, the imposition of a fine, which is a source of increasingly serious litigation, other consequences, at the civil level alone, should not be ignored. This is the case for the nullity of (...) -
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Action of the minister: The French Supreme Court refuses to transmit to the French Constitutional Council a question on Article L. 442-6, III of the French Commercial Code allowing the Minister of Economy to inform only in appeal the parties to a contract that it intends to pursue nullity on the ground of that Article (Système U centrale nationale)In the context of a dispute between the national central company Système U and the Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance, the latter raised the unconstitutionality of the interpretation of Article L 442-6III of the Civil Code, thereby, according to Système U, violating the principle of (...) -
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Cancellation: The French Supreme Court considers that significant imbalance cannot be subject to a cancellation under the French Commercial Code (Nord Toitures / SCT)Here is an unpublished decision of the Court of Cassation which, out of the blue, seems to have settled, for the first time, one of the major questions relating to the regime of article L. 442-6, I, 2° C. com. In the case in point, a company had signed a contract with a telephone operator for (...) -
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Italy: The Milan Court and the Sciacca Court consider that the Euribor index is not itself the result of an anti-competitive agreement between banking institutions (Euribor ; Banca)The judgment delivered by the Court of Milan on 22 December 2016 and published on 7 January 2017 and that delivered by the Court of Sciacca on 17 January 2017 remind us that the evidentiary difficulties encountered by the plaintiff who considers himself to be the victim of an illegal cartel may (...) -
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Rights of defense: Advocate General Whal proposes to the Court of Justice of the European Union to set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union in the case of ‘concrete reinforcing bars’ on the ground that the European Commission did not follow the procedure laid down by the rules in force after the expiry of the ECSC Treaty (Feralpi Holding)In that case, the Commission had issued a decision penalising the applicants for their participation in a cartel in the reinforcing bar production sector. That decision, based on Article 65 of the ECSC Treaty and in accordance with the procedural rules specific to that provision, was (...) -
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Non-compete clause: The French Supreme Court holds that the non-compete clause in a non-employee management contract must provide for a financial consideration otherwise the clause would be void (Distribution Casino France)The articulation of the special rules between them and, more particularly, the rules of ordinary labour law and the special rules applicable to non-employee managers of food retail branches - as provided for in Articles L. 7322-1 et seq. of the Labour Code - has given rise to significant (...) -
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The Montenegrin Competition Authority finds that two insurance companies concluded three illegal restrictive agreements (Lovćen osiguranje / Sava osiguranje)The Montenegrin competition authority rendered on 24 July 2015 a decision finding that two insurance companies, Lovćen osiguranje (member of Triglav group) and Sava osiguranje had concluded three illegal restrictive agreements on the market of non-life insurance. The first affected agreement is (...) -
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Actions for nullity : The Paris Court of Appeals rules that the actions for nullity of contracts concluded after a bid-rigging cartel sanctioned by the Competition Authority are not time-barred as the limitation period started as of the date of the Authority’s decision and not of the plaintiff’s application, but rejects the claim for damages (EDF, ERDF)The period under review is relatively rich in terms of private enforcement, since after the affair of the Île-de-France high school markets (see above), it is now the turn of the private enforcement agencies to take action.), it is an action for compensation in the so-called high-voltage cable (...) -
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The Swedish Supreme Court rejects a claim for annulment of an arbitration award without assessing the formal matter of the legislation on which the award was based (Systembolaget / Absolut)The Swedish Supreme Court rejected, on 17 June 2015, a claim for annulment of an arbitration award. The claimant, Systembolaget Aktiebolag (“Systembolaget”) contended that the arbitration panel had misinterpreted the competition rule and that the legal issue of the case did not fall within the (...) -
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The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit annuls a district court’s order which certified a class of direct purchasers in a price-fixing suit in the blood reagents market (Ortho Clinical Diagnostics)On Wednesday, April 8, 2015, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a district court’s order certifying a class of direct purchasers of blood reagents in a price-fixing suit against Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Inc. In re Blood Reagents, case number 12-4067. Plaintiffs allege that (...) -
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Internal rules : The Paris Court of appeals, after having recognized a significant imbalance, declares a term null and void and orders to amend consequently the internal rules (Radiophonie)Over time and in the course of disputes, the contours of Article L. 442-6-I-2° of the Commercial Code have been clarified, which deals with "the fact of subjecting or attempting to subject a trading partner to obligations that create a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the (...) -
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Non-competition clause : The French Supreme Court confirms the invalidity of a disproportional post-contractual non-competition clause (Blue Line & Bro)A commercial agent who had been hired by a company competing with that of his former principal was accused by the latter of breaching the post-contractual non-competition undertaking prohibiting him from "carrying on the same professional activity for two years from the date of termination". (...) -
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Franchise : The French Supreme Court approves of an appellate court having declared null and void non-compete obligations in the food distribution sector (Carrefour, Champion)A franchisor wishing to protect the integrity of its network by stipulating exclusive supply or non-reaffiliation clauses must ensure that it has sufficient know-how to justify the existence of such restrictions of competition. In the food sector, network promoters often come up against this (...) -
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Franchise: The Rennes Court of Appeals considers that a franchisee who has been fulfilling the agreement for several years cannot raise the lack of elements characterizing a franchise (Agri Placement / Agri)CA Rennes, April 24, 2014, RG n° 12/08326, Agri Placement c/ Agri Following the termination of his franchise agreement, a franchisee had sued his franchisor for nullity of the agreement for lack of elements characteristic of a franchise (know-how, technical and commercial assistance). The (...) -
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Franchise: The Rennes Court of Appeals dismisses a belated action filed by a franchisee related to the invalidity of the nearly entirely executed franchise agreement (Agri Placement)Following the termination of his franchise agreement, a franchisee had sued his franchisor for nullity of the agreement for lack of elements characteristic of a franchise (know-how, technical and commercial assistance). The Rennes Court of Appeal dismissed his claims, noting "that the (...)
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