Andrzej Kmiecik

On 9 July 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published the draft revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“Draft VBER”) and draft revised guidelines on vertical restraints (“Draft VGL”), a key step in the context of the revision of the current regime governing vertical agreements, set (...)

On 6 July 2021, the German Federal Court of Justice (“FCJ”) upheld an injunction against Porsche and its German distributor (“Porsche” or the ”Defendants”) in favor of an industry association whose members manufacture and distribute customized parts for tuning purposes (the “Association”). The (...)

On 28 May 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its Evaluation Report on the operation of the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation, Commission Regulation No 461/2010, (available here), and the accompanying Staff Working Document (available here). The aim of the evaluation (...)

On 18 May 2021, the German Federal Court of Justice (“FCJ”) overturned the ruling of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf concerning the use of (so-called) ‘narrow’ price parity clauses by Booking.com (“Booking”). These clauses, which were included in contracts concluded between Booking and hotels (...)

On 5 February 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published an important working paper outlining its preliminary views on the application of Article 101 TFEU to distributors that also act as agents for the same supplier (the “Working Paper”). As brand owners are showing an increasing (...)

On 20 January 2021, the European Commission (the “Commission”) announced that it had fined the US company Valve, owner of the popular online PC gaming platform “Steam” (“Steam”), and five publishers of video games (Capcom, Bandai Namco, Koch Media, Focus Home Interactive and ZeniMax Media) a total of (...)

On 5 January 2021, on appeal against a decision by the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (“Czech NCA”), the Chairman of the Czech NCA (the “Chairman”) upheld a fine of € 1.6 million levied by his organisation in November 2019 against childcare products supplier Baby Direkt. Baby Direkt (...)

On 19 November 2020, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) fined the price comparison website ComparetheMarket, and its parent companies, £ 17.9 million for breaching the UK and EU competition rules. The CMA found that ComparetheMarket breached the prohibition of anti-competitive (...)

On 19 November 2020, the European Commission (“Commission”) published a study on territorial supply constraints (“TSCs”) in the EU retail sector (the “Study”), available here. The Study is the outcome of a fact-finding mission commissioned by DG GROW and clarifies the prevalence and effects of TSCs (...)

On 23 October 2020, the European Commission (“Commission”) published an Inception Impact Assessment (the “Inception Assessment”) (available here) as part of the revision of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and the Vertical Guidelines in anticipation of the expiry of the VBER on 31 May (...)

By decision of 19 October 2020, the Hungarian Competition Authority (“GVH”) imposed a fine of HUF 75 million (approximately € 250,000) on beer maker Heineken for failing to comply with its reporting obligations under its commitments to reduce the amount of beer sold under exclusivity contracts. (...)

On 12 October 2020, the Commission launched a public consultation with a view to receiving comments from stakeholders on the ongoing evaluation of the 2010 Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (“MVBER”) regime. The public consultation aims to collect facts, views and evidence to assist the (...)

According to a press release issued by the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (“FCA”), the Austrian Cartel Court ruled on 24 September 2020 that musical instruments maker Roland Germany GmbH (“Roland Germany”) had violated the competition rules by entering into agreements fixing minimum resale (...)

According to a press release issued by the Danish Competition Authority (the “Authority”) on 18 September 2020, Danish design company GUBI A/S has entered into a settlement with the Authority and accepted to pay a fine of DKK 6 million (approximately € 800,000) for having engaged in resale price (...)

On 8 September 2020, the European Commission (“Commission”) published a report on the Evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (the “Evaluation Report”). For further information, see the Legislative, Procedural and Policy Developments section below. The Evaluation Report reflects the (...)

According to a press release issued by the Czech Competition Authority (the “Authority”) on 3 September 2020, the Authority has imposed a fine of CZK 7,687,000 on garden equipment supplier V-GARDEN for engaging in resale price maintenance. The Authority reported that, during the period from (...)

On 4 August 2020, the Austrian Cartel Court published a decision dated 13 February imposing a € 100,000 fine on Castanea Rubra Assets GmbH (“Castanea Rubra”) for failing to notify its acquisition of 94% of shares in Neue Halberg Guss GmbH (“Neue Halberg”) in 2018. This failure to notify violated the (...)

On 14 July 2020, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (the “Court”) handed down its judgment in the dispute between Nike European Operations Netherlands B.V. (“NEON”) and Action Sport SOC. COOP, A.R.L. (“Action Sport”), an Italian retailer of Nike’s sportswear, footwear and related products. The Court upheld (...)

On 29 June 2020, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) issued decisions fining two musical instrument manufacturers, Roland and Korg, a combined total of £ 5.5 million for individually infringing the Chapter 1 prohibition of the Competition Act and/or Article 101 Treaty on the (...)

On 24 June 2020, the Danish Competition Council (“DCC”) adopted two separate decisions concerning anticompetitive conduct engaged in : (i) between the clothing manufacturer, supplier and retailer Hugo Boss Nordic ApS (“Hugo Boss”) and the retailer Axel Kaufmann ApS (“Kaufmann”) and (ii) between Hugo (...)

On 4 June 2020, the Competition Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal (the “Court”) handed down a judgment dismissing the appeal filed by three car repairers (the “Claimants”) against a decision of the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”) to reject their complaint against Hyundai Motor France (...)

According to a press release of 16 March 2020, the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”) imposed a record-breaking fine of € 1.1 billion on Apple for anticompetitive practices in the distribution of Apple products (excluding iPhones). These practices included : (i) restricting resale (...)

On 21 February 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) announced its decision to fine Spanish hotel group Meliá € 6,678,000 for including clauses in its agreements with tour operators that discriminated between consumers based on their country of residence. According to the Commission’s (...)

On 11 February 2020, the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (the “UOKIK”) imposed a fine of PLN 1.4 million (approximately € 325,000) on office equipment maker Brother for online retail price maintenance (“RPM”). The UOKIK’s decision explains that, between the years 2010 and 2017, (...)

On 30 January 2020, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced its decision to fine several companies belonging to Comcast Corporation, including NBCUniversal, € 14,327,000 for limiting the ability of licensees to sell licensed merchandising products to other EEA countries and non-allocated (...)

On 22 January 2020, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA”) fined guitar maker Fender Musical Instruments Europe Limited and its US parent company, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, (“Fender”) £ 4.5 million (approximately € 5.4 million) for infringing Article 101 Treaty on the (...)

On 21 January 2020, the UK Court of Appeal rejected an appeal brought by the golf club manufacturer Ping Europe Limited (“Ping”) against the 2018 judgment of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”), which upheld the Competition and Markets Authority’s (“CMA”) 2017 decision finding Ping’s online sales (...)

On 13 January 2020, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) imposed fines totalling € 154.6 million on seven undertakings for agreeing on price lists, rebates and retail prices for plant protection products between 1998 and 2015. Fines were also imposed on employees implicated in the infringing (...)

On 5 December 2019, the Swedish Competition Authority (“SCA”) issued a preliminary injunction against IM WITH BRUCE (“Bruce”), the owner of a so-called “training aggregator” app which offers subscribers access to a variety of fitness studios, prohibiting Bruce from using exclusivity provisions in its (...)

The Hungarian Competition Authority (“GVH”) fined a supplier of security alarm systems, Paradox Security Systems (“Paradox”), registered in the Bahamas, and two of its Hungarian distributors, Power Biztonságtechnikai Kereskedelmi Kft (“Power”) and Trióda Biztonságtechnika Zrt (“Trióda”), approximately (...)

On 26 November 2019, the Spanish Competition Authority (“CNMC”) imposed total fines of € 859,763 on several companies in the Vaillant Group, suppliers and repairers of gas boilers, for a breach of Article 1 of the Spanish Competition Act for anticompetitive restrictions in contracts concluded with (...)

On 12 November 2019, the Spanish Competition Authority (“CNMC”) fined Spain’s two leading TV channel operators Mediaset and Atresmedia a total of € 77 million for imposing single-branding obligations in their agreements with television advertisers. The CNMC concluded that the two TV channel (...)

According to a press release issued on 1 August 2019, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) imposed a fine of £ 3.7 million (approximately € 4.1 million) on piano supplier Casio Electronics (“Casio”) for online resale price maintenance (RPM). Between the years 2013 and 2018, Casio reportedly (...)

On 31 July 2019, the Paris Court of Appeal (the “Court”) ruled that Hyundai did not discriminate against retailer Garage Richard Drevet by terminating its car distribution contract. The Court essentially ruled that each car supplier is free to determine whether to grant access to its selective (...)

On 9 July 2019, the Japanese company Sanrio was fined € 6.2 million by the European Commission (“Commission”) for infringing Article 101 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by restricting cross-border sales by its licensees. According to the Commission’s press release, the case (...)

On 9 July 2019, the German Federal Court of Justice (“FCJ”) annulled a judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (the “Court”) which had increased a fine imposed on drugstore Rossmann for engaging in resale price maintenance (“RPM”) from € 5.25 million to € 30 million. In December 2015, the (...)

On 1 July 2019, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) imposed a fine of € 250,000 on Trek Bicycle Corporation and its subsidiary Bikeurope B.V. (together “Bikeurope”) for having prohibited its authorised retailers from selling its bicycles online from 2007 to 2014, a restriction by object that (...)

On 4 June 2019, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (the “Court”) ruled that narrow best price clauses are not anticompetitive and overturned the decision of the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibiting Booking.com from using such clauses in contracts with hotel operators. ‘Narrow’ best price (...)

On 5 April 2019, the European Commission announced via a press release that it had sent Statements of Objections to Valve – the owner of the ‘Steam’ video game distribution platform – and five video game publishers (Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax) concerning their alleged (...)

On 25 March 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced its decision to fine Nike € 12,555,000 for limiting the ability of licensees to sell licensed merchandising products to other EEA countries. According to the Commission’s press release, the restrictions concerned the merchandise (...)

The Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (“MVBER”), which (together with the Vertical Agreements Block Exemption) exempts under Article 101(3) various vertical agreements in the automotive sector, will expire on 31 May 2023. In preparation for this, the European Commission has formally (...)

On 16 February 2019, the Paris Court of Appeal (the “Court of Appeal”) rejected an appeal brought by Canna France for the annulment of the decision of the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) imposing a fine for anticompetitive vertical agreements in the liquid fertiliser market. On 20 December (...)

On 15 February 2019, the Danish court of Næstved imposed a fine of DK 1,000,000 (approximately € 135,000) on hair-product wholesaler Icon Hairspa for imposing minimum retail prices for Kevin Murphy-branded products on its dealers. An Icon Hairspa manager was also fined DK 100,000 for (...)

The European Commission (“Commission”) has initiated its evaluation of the Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (“VABER”), which will expire on 31 May 2022. The Commission’s evaluation will inform its decision on whether to allow the VABER to lapse, to prolong its duration or to revise it. (...)

According to a press release dated 29 January 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) has fined bicycle cooperative Zweirad-Einkaufs-Genossenschaft (“ZEG”) and its representatives a total of € 13.4 million for retail price maintenance. ZEG sells bicycles to its members under its own brands, (...)

According to a press release issued on 17 December 2018, the European Commission (“Commission”) has fined the clothing company Guess € 39.8 million for infringing Article 101(1) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”) by imposing various types of resale restrictions on authorised (...)

The Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (“VABER”) will expire on 31 May 2022. As a result, the European Commission has formally commenced its evaluation of the VABER in order to inform its decision on whether to allow it lapse, prolong its duration or revise it, in particular to take (...)

On 24 October 2018, the French competition authority (the “FCA”) fined Stihl, a German manufacturer of outdoor power tools, € 7 million for, in effect, prohibiting online sales of chainsaws, brush cutters, pole saws and electric pruners. Stihl operated a selective distribution system, under which (...)

On 28 February 2018, the Paris Court of Appeal (the “Court”) released its judgment in an appeal related to a dispute between Coty France (“Coty”), a producer of branded luxury cosmetics including, in particular, perfumes, and Showroomprive.com, an online platform specialised in the sales of branded (...)

Spain’s Supreme Court has voided a contract including an exclusive-supply clause in favour of Repsol, following a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) in which the ECJ confirmed that national courts are not precluded from assessing potentially anti-competitive agreements (...)

On 6 December 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ECJ or the Court) handed down its eagerly anticipated judgment in Coty (C-230/16). In general, the ECJ closely follows the opinion of Advocate General Wahl (AG Wahl), published on 26 July 2016, in essentially holding that : (...)

On 23 October 2017, the General Court of the European Union (the “Court”) dismissed an action brought by Confédération européenne des associations d’horlogers-réparateurs (“CEAHR”) against the European Commission (the “Commission”) for the annulment of the Commission’s decision to reject a complaint (...)

On 13 September 2017, the French Supreme Court ordered the Paris Court of Appeal to rehear a case for failing to sufficiently substantiate its finding that an obligation in Caudalie’s selective distribution system constituted a probable restriction of competition by object. In the selective (...)

On 10 May 2017, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its final Report on the e-commerce sector inquiry (“the Report”), aimed at identifying business practices in the sector that might restrict competition and limit consumer choice. The Report consists of two documents : (i) a 16-page (...)

On 4 May 2017, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced that it had accepted, pursuant to Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No.1/2003, to make binding commitments that Amazon offered ending the use of parity clauses in distribution agreements with electronic book (“e-book”) publishers. These (...)

On 22 March 2017, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) imposed a fine amounting to € 5,489,000 on leading yeast producer Algist Bruggeman NV (“AB”), and three parent companies, for several infringements of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”) and (...)

On 1 and 17 February 2017, the General Court (“GC”) delivered three judgments in relation to actions claiming damages for alleged excessive duration of judicial proceedings. This is the second set of judgments issued by the GC on this topic. Last month, the GC awarded Gascogne more than € 57,000 (...)

On 25 January 2017, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published a draft guidance note on the prohibition of vertical price fixing in the brick-and-mortar food retail sector. The guidance note follows proceedings concluded in December last year, in which the FCO imposed fines amounting to € (...)

On 10 January 2017, the General Court (“GC”) issued a judgment in which it ordered the European Union to pay Gascogne and Gascogne Sack Deutschland (“Gascogne”) a total of about € 57,000 in damages for the excessive duration of previous proceedings before the GC in connection with the Industrial (...)

On 24 May 2016, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) fined ITW Limited, a supplier of refrigerators, £ 2,298,820 for retail price maintenance on online sales. From 2012 to 2014, ITW required dealers to adhere to its minimum advertised price policy for Foster commercial fridges and (...)

On 7 April 2016, the Higher Regional Court of Celle held that resale price maintenance in the framework of a promotion offered to pharmacies for the sale of a dietary product did not constitute an appreciable restriction of competition and therefore did not infringe competition law. In 2014, (...)

On 22 December 2015, the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt (the “Court”) issued a ruling on appeal concerning the selective distribution system of Deuter, a producer of quality backpacks. The Court assessed two restrictions imposed by Deuter on the resellers belonging to its selective (...)

On 26 November 2015, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) handed down its judgment in a request for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings between Maxima Latvija, a Latvian entity carrying out business predominantly in the food retail trade, and the Latvian Competition Council. By way of (...)

On 8 October 2015, the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice (the “Supreme Court”) increased the fine against Spar, a food retailer, from € 3 million to € 30 million after upholding an earlier finding of illegal pricing agreements relating to dairy products. On 26 November 2014, the Higher Regional (...)

On 31 July 2013, the FCO imposed fines in the total amount of € 6.5 million on WALA Heilmittel GmbH (“WALA”), manufacturer of natural cosmetics and cures, and some of its employees for vertical price fixing. According to the FCO’s press release, the company put pressure on retailers to follow (...)

The Bulgarian Competition Authority has fined three sunflower oil producers and five of their distributors a total of more than BGN 2 million (around € 1 million) for entering into vertical agreements aimed at restricting competition on the bottled sunflower oil market by means of fixing (...)

On 25 July 2013, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (“DCCA”) announced that the white goods manufacturer Miele A/S has accepted to pay a fine of DKK 1.2 million (around € 161,000) for having entered into illegal price maintenance agreements with its dealers and for having prevented (...)

On 4 July 2013, the CNC fined three entities for setting up a traceability system that led to restrictions of sales of the Nadorcott tangerine. The fined entities were the holder of the Community plant variety rights for the Nadorcott tangerine (Nadorcott Protection, S.A.R.L.) ; an (...)

On 16 May 2013, the French Court of Appeal confirmed a decision of the French Competition Authority imposing a fine of € 1.34 million on toy distributor Kontiki SAS for engaging in unlawful resale price maintenance. On 15 December 2011, the French Competition Authority found that Kontiki (...)

On 16 May 2013, the Spanish Competition Commission (CNC) announced that it has opened a formal investigation into the Spanish subsidiary of General Motors, Opel, for possible anti-competitive practices in the market for the supply of spare parts to Opel’s authorised dealers and repairers. (...)

On 14 March 2013, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) handed down a judgment on a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hungarian Supreme Court on the application of Article 101 TFEU to certain agreements between insurance companies and car repair shops. Once a (...)

On 6 March 2013, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that a non-compete clause in a franchise agreement in the food distribution sector infringed competition law, as it was neither necessary nor proportionate for the purpose of protecting the franchisor’s know-how and the reputation of the (...)

On 7 February 2013, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) handed down its ruling in response to a preliminary reference from a Spanish court that had questioned the meaning of the phrase “premises and land from which the buyer has operated during the contract period” in Article (...)

On 4 December 2012, the Swedish Market Court (Marknadsdomstolen) ruled that exclusivity clauses in the warranty contracts of motor vehicle manufacturer Kia Motors (“Kia”) infringe competition law and ordered the company to allow customers to choose independent as well as authorised (...)

On 25 July 2012, the Court of First Instance of Amsterdam (the “Court”) rejected a claim brought by three former repairers of KIA Nederland BV (“KIA Nederland”), ruling that the distribution system in question did not infringe the competition rules. The repairers had previously brought (...)

In a decision of 16 July 2012, the Competition Authority of Switzerland (“COMCO”) levied a fine of CHF3.5 million (around € 3 million) on the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (“IFPI Switzerland”), as well as a fine of CHF20,000 (around € 16,000) on Phononet AG (“Phononet”), (...)

On 8 May 2012, it was revealed that the European Commission has sent information requests to Spanish wholesalers active within the pharmaceutical sector. The requests are said to concern various contracts concluded between these wholesalers and large pharmaceutical companies. The (...)

According to a press release of 10 February 2012, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) has issued a statement of objections to HRS- Hotel Reservation Service Robert Ragge GmbH (“HRS”) with regard to, inter alia, an alleged violation of Sections 1 and 20 of the German Act against (...)

On 17 January 2012, the Danish High Court ruled on appeals brought against a judgment of the Danish District Court of Svendborg of May 2011 imposing a fine of DKK 500,000 (around € 67,000) on the Danish design furniture manufacturer Erik Jørgensen Møbelfabrik A/S (“EJM”), as well as fines (...)

On 21 December 2011, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (the Court), sitting as the court of last instance, decided an important case concerning the right of a manufacturer of passenger vehicles to refuse to appoint a repairer applying to be admitted to its authorised repair network. The (...)

On 16 December 2011, the French Competition Authority made binding the commitments proposed by Carrefour concerning its Carrefour Market franchise agreement. In August 2010, Marcadet (a Carrefour franchisee) complained to the French Competition Authority concerning certain commercial (...)

On 15 December 2011, the Swiss Competition Authority (COMCO / WEKO) imposed a fine of 12.5 million Swiss Francs (around € 10 million) on the Swiss subsidiary of Japan-based company Nikon on the grounds that it had restricted parallel imports of Nikon Imaging products. Following receipt of (...)

In a published judgment of 12 December 2011, the Austrian Supreme Court upheld an earlier judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Vienna that had dismissed a claim seeking the annulment of non-compete obligations imposed by the operator of a shopping centre (the Europark) on its tenants (...)

On 28 September 2011, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (“the Court”) handed down a judgment on appeal regarding the validity of a section of a supply contract concluded between a manufacturer of pet food and a wholesaler. The relevant section of the contract, included, among other (...)

CEES (Confederación Española de Estaciones de Servicio) and AGES (Asociación de Gestores de Estaciones de Servicio), two associations representing 45 percent of Spanish service stations, are reported to have recently lodged an appeal with the General Court against a Commission decision which (...)

On 18 May 2011, the Danish District Court of Svendborg (the “Court”) imposed a fine of DKK 500,000 (approximately € 67,000) on Erik Jørgensen Møbelfabrik A/S (“EJM”), a Danish manufacturer of design furniture, for having engaged in resale price maintenance. The Court also imposed fines totalling DKK (...)

In a recent judgment delivered on 30 March 2011, the German Federal Court of Justice dismissed the action brought by a vehicle repairer to be admitted to the authorised repair network of MAN, a commercial vehicle manufacturer, based on the claim that MAN was abusing its dominant position as (...)

On 22 March 2011, the General Court dismissed an appeal lodged in 2003 against a European Commission decision of that year which exempted under Article 101(3) TFEU (ex-Article 81 EC), subject to conditions, a packaging waste management scheme in Austria. This appeal was brought by Altstoff (...)

On 5 March 2011, the Sustainable Economy Act (the “Act”) entered into force in Spain. This Act included, inter alia, a number of mandatory provisions which were to apply to all motor vehicle distribution contracts. The main features of this new regime can be summarised as follows. First, the Act (...)

In a decision of 31 December 2010, which has become recently available, the Polish Competition Authority fined a supplier of gardening products (Ogrody Polskie) and six distributors for entering into unlawful agreements concerning resale price maintenance and restrictions of passive sales in (...)

On 31 December 2010, the Polish Competition Authority adopted a decision finding that Akzo Nobel Coatings (“Akzo Nobel”) and four DIY companies (namely Castorama, Leroy Merlin, Obi and Praktiker) fixed the minimum resale prices of Akzo Nobel paints in Poland between 2004 and 2006. The Polish (...)

On 26 November 2010, the Court of First Instance of Copenhagen imposed a fine of approximately € 80,000 on Danish jewellery manufacturer Lise Aagaard Copenhagen A/S and a fine of approximately € 3,000 on one of its executives for preventing two Internet retailers from granting discounts. (...)

In a decision adopted on 24 November 2010, the Danish Competition Authority found that Witt Hvidevarer A/S (“Witt”), a Danish importer and wholesaler of robotic vacuum cleaners and floor washers manufactured by the American company iRobot, had engaged in anticompetitive practices over a period of (...)

According to a press release of 15 September 2010, the Czech Competition Authority has imposed its highest fine ever for an anti-competitive vertical agreement on Sokolovská uhelná (a coal supplier established in the Czech Republic). It appears that from 1997 to 2007 Sokolovská uhelná concluded (...)

On 3 September 2010, the Paris Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in a case between eBay and SA Parfums Christian Dior, SA Kenzo Parfums, SA Parfums Givenchy, and SA Guerlain (which are perfume and cosmetics suppliers belonging to the LVMH group – hereinafter the “LVMH group”). On 30 June (...)

In a judgment of 2 September 2010 which has recently become available, the Paris Court of Appeal gave its ruling in legal proceedings between a supplier of motor vehicles, Subaru France, and one of its former dealers. It appears that after Subaru France terminated the dealership agreement by (...)

According to a press release of 15 July 2010, the Greek Competition Authority has imposed a fine of € 12.5 million on Carrefour Marinopoulos (“Carrefour”) for engaging, inter alia, in resale price maintenance with its supermarket franchisees in breach of Greek and EU competition law. In (...)

On 7 July 2010, the English High Court upheld a claim brought by a franchisor against a former franchisee based on a post-term non-compete obligation, finding that the obligation did not infringe the equivalent provision to Article 101 TFEU under English law. The case arose from a franchise (...)

According to a press release of 28 June 2010, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) has imposed a total fine of € 2.5 million on Garmin Deutschland GmbH (“Garmin”), a manufacturer of mobile navigation devices (e.g., GPS systems), and one of its employees, for engaging in resale price maintenance (...)

In two separate judgments that were handed down in June 2010, the Commercial Court of Versailles and the Paris Court of Appeal awarded damages to former dealers of SA Nissan France (“Nissan”) and SA Groupe Volkswagen France (“VW”) respectively, whose dealership agreements were terminated by the (...)

In two separate judgments that were handed down in June 2010, the Commercial Court of Versailles and the Paris Court of Appeal awarded damages to former dealers of SA Nissan France (“Nissan”) and SA Groupe Volkswagen France (“VW”) respectively, whose dealership agreements were terminated by the (...)

On 27 May 2010, after an intensive and controversial review of the current regime lasting two years, the European Commission adopted Commission Regulation 461/2010 concerning the application of Article 101(3) TFEU to vertical agreements in the motor vehicle sector (the “New MVBER”) and its (...)

In a decision of 29 April 2010, the Finnish Competition Authority proposed to the Competition Court the imposition of a € 4 million fine on the Iittala Group (“Iittala”), a Finnish manufacturer of design houseware products, for engaging in resale price maintenance in breach of Finnish competition (...)

On 21 April 2010, the Commission adopted final versions of the new Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (“VABER”) and Vertical Restraints Guidelines (“Guidelines”). The new VABER will enter into force on 1 June 2010, and will expire at the end of May 2022. The new VABER provides for a (...)

On 15 April 2010, the French Competition Authority dismissed a complaint lodged by several franchisees and former franchisees (the “complainants”) against their franchisor, Hypromat France SAS (“Hypromat”), concerning alleged infringements of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (ex-Articles 81 and 82 EC) and (...)

The Swedish Competition Authority has published a sectoral investigation report concerning motor vehicle warranty schemes in Sweden. In this report, the Swedish Competition Authority found that a small number of motor vehicle manufacturers (namely BMW, KIA and Subaru) offer a manufacturer’s (...)

On 28 January 2010, the Competition Authority of Lithuania fined several undertakings active in the supply and distribution of DVD movies for engaging in resale price maintenance in breach of the provision of Lithuanian law equivalent to Article 101 TFEU between 2006 and 2009. The fines imposed (...)

Early in 2009, the Lithuanian Competition Council launched an investigation into certain companies active in the sale of new motor vehicles in Lithuania, examining claims that these companies had required customers to have their vehicles serviced only by an authorized dealer/repairer of the (...)

On 21 December 2009, the European Commission launched a public consultation on its review of the competition rules for the motor vehicle sector. In particular, the European Commission published a draft sector-specific block exemption and notice concerning the sale of new motor vehicles, spare (...)

On 3 December 2009, the President of the Amsterdam Court of First Instance (the “President”) accepted an interim proceedings claim brought by four former Kia Nederland BV (“KIA Nederland”) repairers. The repairers claimed that KIA Motors Nederland BV (“KIA Motors”), which replaced KIA Nederland as (...)

According to a press release of 1 December 2009, the Swiss Competition Authority has imposed fines totaling approximately € 3.7 million on three pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Lilly and Bayer) for engaging in resale price maintenance with their distributors. It appears that the three (...)

In its judgment of 25 November 2009, the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe (the “Court”) upheld a judgment of the Regional Court of Mannheim which allowed the manufacturer of high quality school bags which operated a qualitative selective distribution system to prohibit its distributors from (...)

According to a press release of 15 October 2009, the German Federal Competition Authority imposed a fine of €4.2 million on Phonak, a leading supplier of hearing aids in Germany. Phonak supplies hearing aids to specialised resellers, which resell such hearing aids to end-customers. The German (...)

On 30 September 2009, the President of the Court of First Instance of Utrecht (the “President”) refused a claim brought by former KIA dealers and repairers whose dealership agreements had been terminated. It appears from the judgment that on 6 April 2009, KIA Nederland BV (“KIA Nederland”), the (...)

According to a press release of 30 July 2009, the Spanish Competition Authority imposed fines totalling € 7.9 million on REPSOL, CEPSA and BP (the three main suppliers of fuel in Spain) for violating the competition rules by engaging in resale price maintenance in their relations with (...)

On 28 July 2009, the European Commission published for consultation a draft of the proposed new Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (VABER) and its accompanying draft Vertical Guidelines. Interested parties are invited to submit comments on these documents by 28 September 2009. The (...)

On 22 July 2009, the European Commission published for consultation a Communication and accompanying Impact Assessment Report setting out its views on the future competition law framework for the motor vehicle sector. The current Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (MVBER) expires on 31 (...)

According to certain sources, the Commission has recently requested Member States to express their views in relation to the future of the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (which will expire in May 2010). The Commission has apparently asked Member States to consider the following four (...)

In a recently published decision of 14 July 2009, the German Competition Authority found that an agreement between Merck and VWR International Europe (“VWR”) for the distribution of chemical products used by laboratories was contrary to Article 81 EC and the equivalent provision of German law. (...)

In a recently published judgment of 2 July 2009, the Higher Regional Court of Munich (the “Court”) found that a manufacturer of sports products (Amer) was allowed to prohibit its distributors to resell its products through auction websites, such as eBay. Amer had been sued by the German (...)

On 30 June 2009, the French Competition Authority adopted a decision rejecting the complaint brought by the French Minister for the Economy for alleged resale price maintenance involving Punto Fa SL (“Punto Fa”) and its agents in France. Punto Fa is a supplier of women’s clothing and accessories (...)

On 29 April 2009, the Danish Competition Council issued a decision finding that a Danish fuel supplier, OK a.m.b.a., and its wholly-owned subsidiary, DK-Benzin A/S, had infringed the national provision equivalent to Article 81 EC by engaging in resale price maintenance practices with some of (...)

According to a press release of 28 April 2009, the Greek Competition Authority imposed fines totalling approximately € 8 million on Unilever’s Greek subsidiary and six supermarket chains (AB Vasilopoulos, Metro AEVE, Makro C&C, Afi Veropouli AEVE, Atlantik and Masoutis) for entering into (...)

According to a press release of 14 April 2009, the Greek Competition Authority has decided to impose a fine totalling approximately € 9.6 million on Fiat’s Greek subsidiary. First, the Fiat company was found to have fixed its distributors’ profit margins between 1997-2000 in breach of Article 81 (...)

According to a press release of 8 April 2009, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) has fined Microsoft Deutschland GmbH € 9 million for resale price maintenance of its software package “Office Home & Student 2007”. According to the FCO, employees of Microsoft and a major retailer agreed on (...)

On 2 April 2009, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) delivered a judgment in Pedro IV Servicios SLv. Total España SA, a preliminary reference concerning the analysis of non-compete obligations and alleged resale price maintenance in the light of Regulation 1984/83 (the former block exemption (...)

It has been reported that the Commission is currently preparing questionnaires in the context of its reassessment of the competition rules applicable to Internet commerce in view of the expiry of the Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation in May 2010. These questionnaires will be sent (...)

On 18 February 2009, the President of the Paris Court of Appeal partially suspended the decision of the French Competition Council against a manufacturer of cosmetics, Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique (“Pierre Fabre”). In its decision of 29 October 2008, the Competition Council found that Pierre (...)

On 9 February 2009, European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes hosted a roundtable on the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation at which a small group of industry leaders were invited to give their views on the future block exemption regime. There has been a delay in the timetable (...)

In a recently published judgment of 10 December 2008, the German Federal Court of Justice (the “Federal Court”) assessed the validity of a non-compete obligation in the context of a subcontracting agreement under German competition law and German civil law. In essence, the Federal Court held that (...)

On 18 November 2008, the French Supreme Court (“Cour de Cassation”) dismissed the appeal against the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal whereby the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the fine imposed on the two main suppliers of calculators (Casio and Texas Instrument) and their respective (...)

On 22 October 2008, the UK Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) issued three publications setting out its analysis of competition in newspaper and magazine distribution in the UK. These publications comprise (i) an opinion providing competition law guidance on the legality of newspaper and magazine (...)

On 22 October 2008, the UK Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) issued three publications setting out its analysis of competition in newspaper and magazine distribution in the UK. These publications comprise (i) an opinion providing competition law guidance on the legality of newspaper and magazine (...)

On 22 October 2008, the UK Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) issued three publications setting out its analysis of competition in newspaper and magazine distribution in the UK. These publications comprise (i) an opinion providing competition law guidance on the legality of newspaper and magazine (...)

According to a Commission’s Press Release of 17 October 2008, the Commission held a roundtable with consumer and industry representatives in order to discuss the need to reform the competition rules applicable to Internet commerce. This group of stakeholders will produce a report for the (...)

On 11 September 2008, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) gave its ruling in a preliminary reference made by a Spanish court in the context of a contractual dispute which arose between CEPSA, a supplier of fuel and related products, and Tobar, a petrol station. It appears that in 1996 CEPSA (...)

On 7 August 2008, the German Competition Authority made binding the commitments offered by RWE Aktiengesellschaft and RWE Energie AG (a German gas supplier) thereby closing its investigation into the gas supply contracts concluded by these suppliers with large regional and local distributors. (...)

According to a press release dated 30 July 2008, the Czech Competition Authority imposed a fine of CZK 13.5 million (approximately € 550,000) on Kofola (the second largest non-alcoholic beverages manufacturer established in the Czech Republic) for resale prince maintenance in breach of Czech (...)

On 16 July 2008, the Portuguese Competition Authority issued a press release indicating that it has accepted the commitments offered by four suppliers (Nestlé Portugal SA, Delta Cafés Sociedade Gestora de Participaçoes Sociais SA, Nutricafés – Cafés e Restauraçao SA and Segafreddo Zanetti (Portugal (...)

On 11 July 2008, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced that it had reached early resolution agreements with six companies relating to certain anti-competitive arrangements relating to the retail pricing of tobacco products in the UK. These settlement agreements follow the issue of a (...)

On 10 July 2008, the Polish Competition Authority adopted a decision finding that Xella Polska, a construction materials supplier, infringed the national provision equivalent to Article 81 EC by including in distribution agreements with certain large distributors a clause preventing them from (...)

On 1 July 2008, the Irish Competition Authority extended the block exemption (from the Irish law equivalent to Article 81 EC) of non-compete obligations in agreements for the distribution of fuel products in service stations. Thus, non-compete obligations of a duration of less than 10 years (...)

In a decision of 21 June 2008, which was recently published, the Greek Competition Authority found that the supermarket operator Dia Hellas SA (hereinafter “Dia”) infringed Article 81 EC and the equivalent provision of Greek law by engaging in resale price maintenance with members of its (...)

On 29 May 2008, a Polish court upheld a decision of the Polish Competition Authority finding that a supplier of paint and varnish (Polifarb Cieszyn-Wroclaw) and seven DIY supermarket chains (Leroy Merlin, Saint Gobain, Praktiker, Nomi, Obi, Bricomarche and Castorama) engaged in unlawful resale (...)

On 28 May 2008, the Danish Competition Council (the “Competition Council”) extended until 31 December 2011 the period of application of certain commitments that it had previously accepted from Carlsberg in 2005. These commitments addressed a number of competitive concerns expressed by the (...)

On 28 May 2008, the European Commission issued its Report on the operation of Regulation 1400/2002 concerning motor vehicle distribution and servicing (the “Report”). Given that Regulation 1400/2002 (the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation, referred to below as the “MVBER”) is set to expire (...)

On 16 May 2008, the Hungarian Competition Council (the « Competition Council« ) decided to accept the commitments offered by Borsodi Zrt. (« Borsodi« ), a large Hungarian brewer, and terminated its investigation into Borsodi‘s beer supply agreements. The Competition Council, first, found that the (...)

On 20 March 2008, the Greek Competition Authority found that the country’s largest food group (Vivartia) had imposed various unlawful vertical restrictions. The Competition Authority concluded that between 2004 and 2006 Vivartia had engaged in resale price maintenance with regard to sales of (...)

On 13 March 2008, AG Mengozzi delivered his Opinion in CEPSA, Estaciones de Servicio SA v. LV Tobar e Hijos SL. This preliminary reference was made by a Spanish court in the context of a contractual dispute which arose between CEPSA, a supplier of fuel and related products, and Tobar, a petrol (...)

On 19 February 2008, the Spanish Competition Authority found that Damm, a Spanish brewery, had infringed the Spanish provision equivalent to Article 81 EC by engaging in resale price maintenance. Damm is the third largest brewery in Spain with a market share of more than 20% in the (...)

On 8 February 2008, the Commercial Court of Bordeaux ruled on quantitative selective distribution for motor vehicles. Land Rover refused to appoint as its authorised distributor an undertaking established in a French town on the grounds that Land Rover‘s distributors’ map provided for a limited (...)

On 25 January 2008, a Scottish Court issued a ruling concerning certain allegedly anti-competitive clauses contained in a contract concluded between Calor Gas Limited (“Calor”), a supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”), and its distributors of cylinder LPG. This judgment focused its analysis (...)

On 19 December 2007, the Greek Competition Authority adopted a decision concerning a price-fixing infringement committed by the major dairy producers (Vivartia, Megval, Fage, Olympos and Rodopi) and the major supermarket chains (AB Vassilopoulos, Sklavenitis, Afoi Veropouli, Carrefour, (...)

On 6 December 2007, the Versailles Court of Appeal (the “Court”) found that a motor vehicle supplier (DaimlerChrysler France) was entitled to terminate its dealership agreements on one year’s notice before the end of the transition period (i.e., 30 September 2003) provided for in Commission (...)

In a decision adopted on 29 November 2007 which has recently become available, the Greek Competition Authority found that Hyundai Hellas SA (“Hyundai”) had engaged in resale price maintenance with respect to sales of spare parts and after-sales services by members of its authorised network. The (...)

On 27 November 2007, the Spanish Competition Authority adopted a decision finding that Disa Península S.L., a supplier of fuel, did not breach the Spanish equivalent to Article 81 EC by concluding a number of distribution agreements with petrol stations containing non-compete provisions. The (...)