As a new policy statement from the European Commission (EC) treats wage-fixing and no-poach agreements as inherently anticompetitive (restriction of competition “by object”) with few possible defences, companies should...more
The United Kingdom’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (the Act) received royal assent on 24 May 2024. The Act introduces wide-ranging amendments to the UK competition and consumer law regimes that expand the...more
5/29/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Breach of Competition Law ,
Competition Act ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
Enforcement ,
Investigations ,
Jurisdiction ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Misleading Statements ,
Penalties ,
Price Inflation ,
Safe Harbors ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Dawn raids, or unannounced inspections, are possible at both business locations and homes. In response to the increase in remote work and electronic communication in recent years, competition authorities are making more use...more
On June 1, 2023, the European Commission (EC) adopted a revised legal framework that block-exempts research and development (R&D) and specialisation agreements between competitors from the prohibition of anticompetitive...more
In the European Commission’s (EC’s) most significant policy shift on abuse of market dominance in 15 years, the authority published revised guidelines, heralding a shift away from the more economics-led approach that the...more
On February 28, 2023, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued for consultation its long-awaited draft guidance on environmental sustainability agreements (Draft Guidance). The CMA first foreshadowed the...more
The CAT is willing to consider strike-out seriously at the certification stage. The CAT considered striking out the claims of its own motion, and warned the proposed class representatives that they should consider...more
Defendants in competition damages actions often argue that claimants mitigated any loss in competition damages claims by passing on any allegedly unlawful price increase to their customers. In Sainsbury’s v. Mastercard [2020]...more
7/7/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Burden of Proof ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Credit Cards ,
Defense Strategies ,
Interchange Fees ,
Mitigation ,
Passing On ,
Pleadings ,
UK ,
UK Supreme Court
The English Courts have reignited the prospects of a £14 billion class action against Mastercard.
In a much anticipated ruling, on 16 April 2019, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales (the Court) granted an appeal by...more
5/9/2019
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Credit Card Surcharges ,
Damages ,
European Commission ,
Interchange Fees ,
Likelihood of Success ,
Litigation Funding ,
MasterCard ,
Opt-Outs ,
UK
As the U.K.’s March 29, 2019, exit date from the European Union approaches, companies involved in merger reviews or antitrust investigations should pre-emptively address the risk of a “no-deal” Brexit....more
10/18/2018
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Injuries ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Condition Precedent ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Infringement ,
Jurisdiction ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Private Right of Action ,
Statute of Limitations ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On September 26, 2018, the EU General Court (the Court) upheld the European Commission’s refusal to reinvestigate GlaxoSmithKline SA’s (GSK) Spanish “dual-pricing” distribution arrangements, 20 years after the alleged conduct...more
10/5/2018
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Competition Authorities ,
Dual-Pricing ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
General Court of the European Union (GCEU) ,
GlaxoSmithKline ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Spain ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)