Competition and Anti-Trust

EU Antitrust Damages Directive: Opening The Floodgates To Claims Or A Damp Squib?

The Council and European Parliament have finally adopted a Directive on rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of competition rules (the “Directive”). EU Member States have two years to implement it in their national legal systems. The Commission has long looked at the proliferation of damages claims in the United States… Read More

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Supplier Beware Before Terminating Dealers: California’s Equipment Dealers Act

Developments in modern antitrust law have made it increasingly difficult for termination of vertical relationships between a supplier and a dealer to be actionable under the antitrust laws, particularly under a per se theory of liability.  Suppliers contemplating termination of dealer agreements, however, may need to carefully consider laws beyond contracts and antitrust.  That is,… Read More

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Put The Pedal To The Metal

Whilst the competition rules against anti-competitive agreements can apply to franchise networks, the impact in practice has traditionally been low.  This is partly because competition authorities have taken a favourable approach to franchising and partly because of the potential ‘life savers’ available under EU law (e.g. the De Minimis Notice, the Vertical Agreements Block Exemption… Read More

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Antitrust Alert: German Federal Court of Justice Clarifies Limits of No-Poaching Agreements under German Commercial Law

In a decision dated 30 April 2014, but published only recently, the German Federal Court of Justice (“FCJ”) struck down an agreement between two companies not to “poach” each others’ employees as violating the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch, “HGB”). However, the FCJ also clarified under what circumstances companies can lawfully enter into no-poaching agreements, at… Read More

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