The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and its widespread availability raises questions regarding how it might facilitate EU competition law violations. ...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
The European Commission (EC) has launched a formal investigation under its abuse of dominance rules into US life sciences company Zoetis in the area of novel veterinary medicines. The EC alleges that the discontinuation of a...more
The long-awaited European Court of Justice's judgment in Towercast confirmed that national competition authorities (and national courts) can apply abuse of dominance rules to mergers that did not trigger EU and national...more
In our super-connected age, we are inundated with information. It can be difficult to select what is really relevant to one’s business. The purpose of this Review is to provide legal counsel and their teams easy...more
On July 29, 2020, the German Monopolies Commission published its 2020 biennial Report on Competition (Hauptgutachten XXIII: Wettbewerb 2020) under Section 44(1) Act against Restraints of Competition (“GWB”). ...more
McDermott’s Annual European Competition Review summarizes key developments in European competition rules. During the previous year, several new regulations, notices and guidelines were issued by the European Commission. There...more
For a second time in 18 months the EU Commission has slapped a large antitrust fine on Qualcomm, the world’s largest chip manufacturer. On 18 July 2019, the European Commission announced that it has imposed a fine of EUR 242...more
The Ruling: A recent European General Court decision provided valuable guidance on applying abuse of dominance rules (Article 102 TFEU) in the context of software products and provided some welcome clarifications regarding...more
The Background: In September 2017, the European Court of Justice (Case C-413/14 P) reversed the ruling of the General Court, which had upheld the European Commission's €1.06 billion fine on Intel for abusing its dominant...more
On September 6, 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) quashed the 2014 judgment of the General Court (GC) that upheld a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.5 billion) on Intel Corporation Inc. (Intel) for abusing a...more
On the 2nd March 2016, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) initiated proceedings against Facebook’s European and German entities, accusing the company of abusing its market power. The case follows a logical progression of...more
EU and national leniency applications independent rules ECJ - On the 20 January 2016, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down its ruling on a preliminary reference made by the Italian Council of State on the...more
The long-awaited ruling on the seeking of injunctions in the context of standard-essential patents encumbered by fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms has been delivered by the Court of Justice of the...more