The start of 2023 marked six months since the new vertical distribution laws came into effect across the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) – see our earlier summary of the important changes here)....more
In March 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined the lighting products supplier, Dar Lighting Limited (Dar), £1.5 million for engaging in resale price maintenance (RPM), in breach of the UK prohibition...more
On 10 May 2022, the European Commission (the Commission) finally published the official final version of the European Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and guidelines (Vertical Guidelines). The new rules will come...more
On 27 January 2021, the French competition authority (Autorité de la concurrence or ADC) adopted a decision accepting commitments from the building block producer Lego France (Lego) to amend its discount policy. The ADC...more
Two recent developments in the European competition enforcement sphere provide a warning for brands when engaging with their retailers with whom they compete and when using price monitoring tools to monitor the third party...more
It is increasingly common for brands to track the prices of their products online using electronic price monitoring tools. While the practice itself is unlikely to attract antitrust risk, as we have previously reported, in...more
Recent years have seen a surge in enforcement activity with national and supra-national antitrust regulators investigating and fining suppliers and manufacturers for the practice of imposing fixed or minimum resale prices and...more
A recent decision by the Court of Milan found that a trade mark owner who had consented to products being sold in the European Economic Area (EEA), but only through authorised retailers, could make a claim for trade mark...more
The European Commission ("Commission") has invited manufacturers and other interested market participants to provide their input on the laws that govern how products are sold in Europe, in particular the sorts of restrictions...more
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (the “Regulations”) come into force on 13 June 2014 and form the final stage of the UK’s implementation of the European Union...more