Introduction - The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued two major decisions in separate cases concerning sporting organisations’ ability to regulate their: (i) competitions; and (ii) members’ activities...more
In late June 2023, Europe’s highest court confirmed in a hotly anticipated judgment involving leading Portuguese beer and beverage producer Super Bock Bebidas that resale price maintenance (RPM)—namely the vertical fixing of...more
An open letter was issued in January 2023 by the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in which the two watchdogs have reminded airport operators of their responsibilities...more
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
European antitrust regulators have shown a continued focus on scrutinizing manufacturers’ engagement with their distributors. The anticompetitive practices that have attracted the highest financial penalties primarily relate...more
The European Commission has now published its proposed draft of the new EU rules, which will govern distribution agreements until 2032. These are set to replace the current EU Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and...more
Overview - On 26 March 2021, the European Commission (Commission) published new guidance on the application of the EU upward case referral system (Guidance), pursuant to which EU Member States can ask the Commission to review...more
The European Commission (Commission) has launched the impact assessment phase concerning its ongoing revision of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the accompanying Vertical Guidelines, which set out the rules...more
The events of 2020 have caused many brands to re-evaluate whether they are fully utilizing the internet as a tool to reach out to consumers with many enhancing and upgrading their own brand websites. Some brands are now also...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
In an ever-growing online retail environment, brand owners are increasingly becoming concerned with tracking their brand’s online presence and ensuring consumers' experience of their brand continues to be positive....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
On 24 July 2018, in four separate decisions, the European Commission (“Commission”) levied fines totalling EUR 111 million on four well-known manufacturers of consumer electronic products for imposing fixed or minimum resale...more
8/8/2018
/ Anti-Monopoly ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
CCA ,
China ,
Competition ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Resale Pricing ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The EU’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the EU, has decided that suppliers operating a selective distribution system may be able to prevent their authorised resellers from selling on third party platforms. The Court’s...more
In a judgment rendered on 6 December 2017, the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) stressed that selective distribution systems for luxury goods which are designed to preserve the luxury image of those goods are generally...more