Waste treatment, recycling and take back obligations in relation to electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and waste of such electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) have long been a focus area for EU regulators, and now...more
Judgments providing actual guidance for consumer goods brands are like a good action film—rare, but totally worth the wait. The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (the CAT) recent decision in Up and Running v Deckers1 is...more
In the lead-up to Black Friday, online traders should take heed of the latest laws governing online pricing practices and displays to avoid being “marked down” by the regulators, who are flexing their muscles in this space....more
Two decisions this year in the United Kingdom concerning Leicester City Football Club (Leicester City) and Newcastle United Football Club (Newcastle United) show that competition law may be becoming a more prevalent part of...more
With the ubiquitous “Black Friday”—and now “Black Week”—having taken hold in the European Union and the United Kingdom, consumers will currently be inundated with offers and shopping around for the best deal. Retailers should...more
11/22/2023
/ Advertising ,
Black Friday ,
EU ,
Holidays ,
Internet Retailers ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Sales ,
Sales Promotions ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
To date, private equity (PE) deals have seldom attracted serious scrutiny by the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and other antitrust regulators. However, this looks set to change; in particular with...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
As “Holiday Season” is increasingly synonymous with “Sales Season”, and with many sales already in full swing (Black Friday in particular), brands and traders should make sure that their discounting campaigns are compliant...more
The United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has reissued its order for Meta Platforms Inc. (Meta) (owner of Facebook) to divest the GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) platform, Giphy Inc. (Giphy). The decision...more
The National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) came into force on 4 January 2022 and represented a brand new regime for the review of transactions with potential national security implications for the United Kingdom....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
Following the recent surge in consumer panic buying of fuel, the UK government announced on 27 September 2021 that it had suspended UK competition law to allow companies to share information so that fuel could continue to be...more
In November 2020 the UK Government announced a new, much broader regime for the regulation of foreign investment for the protection of national security in the United Kingdom (the UK) under the National Security and...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
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
In the lead up to “Black Friday”, one of the busiest times of the year for online sales, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a campaign to remind online sellers of products that discussing and...more
On 9 June 2016, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it had sent a statement of objections to Ping Europe Limited, a golf equipment manufacturer, alleging that Ping had breached EU and UK...more