Adrien Alberini

Competition law, and merger control in particular, is a prime location to observe and participate in the evolution of the IT sector from a technology, economic and legal perspective. From Microsoft to Google through Oracle/Sun Microsystems, it has been a fantastic – and sometimes hectic – journey. More recently, cases such as Microsoft/LinkedIn and Facebook/WhatsApp have demonstrated how fascinating this field remains. Because IT is converging with other technologies (particularly biotech and medtech) and is increasingly related to other business sectors such as banking, media and entertainment, the boundaries will be pushed further and, consequently, there is much more to come.

In the wake of its much-awaited decision in the Gaba case, the Swiss Federal Tribunal – the highest Court in Switzerland – handed down its BMW judgment. Both cases concern vertical restraints (absolute territorial protection) and put an end to an issue that has been widely debated, namely whether (...)

The telecom undertaking Swisscom provides, through its subordinate entity Bluewin, ADSL services (broadband internet) to final consumers (retail market). Furthermore, Swisscom offers the preliminary service which is indispensible for broadband internet. Swisscom/Bluewin’s competitors, including (...)

Under Swiss law, agreements containing vertical price fixing are presumed to suppress effective competition and, consequently, to be illegal (Art. 5(4) Cartel Act, hereafter “CartA”, and Art. 10(1) Communication on vertical agreements, hereafter “ComVert”). The presumption cannot be rebutted if the (...)

On the 25th August 2008, Schaeffler KG (hereafter, “Schaeffler”) informed the Secretariat of the Swiss Competition Commission (hereafter, “Comco”) about its public takeover bid on Continental. Together with this information, Schaeffler asked for a pre-implementation eventually under conditions. By (...)