COMPETITION - Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11929 - MET / Mega)... Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11828 - BNPP / Axa IM)...more
The European Commission (EC) has recently conducted unannounced antitrust inspections in the data centre construction sector, following concerns about potential collusion in the form of no-poach agreements. This investigation...more
On November, 22, 2024, the Mannheim Local Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) delivered a landmark ruling in Panasonic v. Oppo, setting a significant precedent in the realm of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and...more
The Draghi Report proposes substantial reform in the area of competition law, notably offering a critical assessment of recent policies implemented by the European Commission in merger control and antitrust enforcement. The...more
In May 2009, the European Commission (EC) fined Intel EUR1.06 billion for abusing its dominant position in the x86 microprocessor market (CPUs). The EC concluded that Intel had granted anticompetitive loyalty rebates to...more
Similarly to the Old Law, the New Competition Law prohibits the abuse of a “dominant position” in the relevant market by any undertaking, including acts or conduct aimed at distorting, lessening, restricting, or preventing...more
On 18 September 2024, the General Court of the European Union (General Court) largely upheld the fine imposed by the European Commission (Commission) finding that a global tech company had engaged in predatory pricing of its...more
The New Competition Law maintained the prohibition on restrictive agreements and practices between undertakings whose object, purpose, or impact is to distort, lessen, prevent, or restrict competition. These prohibited...more
On 4 October 2024, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") delivered its judgment in the Diarra case.1 The ECJ finds that some aspects of FIFA's transfer rules regarding financial compensation and imposing additional sporting...more
In June 2024, UEFA adopted its Authorisation Rules governing international football and futsal club competitions, thus responding to the European Court's ruling in the Super League case. The Authorisation Rules lay down...more
In its 18 September 2024 ruling, the General Court of the European Union annulled the €1.5 billion fine that the European Commission had imposed on Google in 2019 for allegedly abusing its dominant position in online search...more
Demonstrating both increased cross-border collaboration and the adoption of novel theories of cartel violations, the European Commission and the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, together with the U.S. competition...more
Put down the lemonade and break out the pumpkin spice: summer is coming to an end. And while you were in the pool – or maybe just answering emails poolside – the antitrust agencies showed no signs of a summer slowdown. Before...more
EU competition rules are crucial to the strengthening of the Union’s internal market. And direct effect has long been a structuring legal principle of the Union’s legal order, helping to ensure its autonomous nature. Thus,...more
The Court of Justice of the EU (the Court) has overturned the General Court’s judgment in Illumina/Grail, effectively putting an end to the EC’s revised Article 22 policy approach for below-threshold mergers. Under this...more
The European Commission (EC) has published draft antitrust guidelines on exclusionary abuses (the Draft Guidelines) and is conducting a public consultation to gather feedback....more
In a spectacular turn, on September 3, 2024, the Court of Justice (CJEU), constituted as the grand chamber, overturned the ruling of the General Court (GC) and annulled the decision made by the Commission to accept requests...more
The European Commission has published for public consultation its long-awaited draft Guidelines on exclusionary abuses (draft Guidelines). The draft Guidelines aim at making it faster and easier for the Commission to pursue...more
On July 22, 2024, the European Commission (EC) accepted commitments proposed by Vifor Pharmaceuticals to address disparagement concerns under Article 102 TFEU. This is the EC’s first pure disparagement case and its second...more
In the recent years we have seen exponential increases in the amount of fines imposed by the European Commission (Commission) for infringements of competition rules, fines in the range of hundreds of millions or even billions...more
The Draft Guidelines set out the European Commission (EC)’s approach on exclusionary abuse by dominant undertakings. The EC is proposing a shift away from the effects-based approach set out in its earlier enforcement...more
The European Union’s Court of Justice (ECJ) has rendered its two long-awaited judgments in the European Commission’s (EC’s) perindopril case. The 27 June 2024 judgments concern: - The EC’s appeal of the General Court’s...more
In May 2024, the European Commission published a Competition Policy Brief classifying certain agreements related to labor markets as serious antitrust infringements. According to the Commission, so-called wage-fixing and...more
Le 27 juin 2024, le laboratoire pharmaceutique Servier – qui, entre 2005 et 2007, avait conclu plusieurs accords transactionnels en matière de brevets impliquant des paiements inversés avec des génériqueurs (Niche/Unichem,...more
The ECJ confirms its intolerance against conduct that is viewed as originator companies buying off competition from generic companies about to enter the market and thereby unduly prolonging their monopoly. Such conduct, which...more