Nota Bene Episode 135: Europe Q3 Check In: Brexit, Data Protection, and Block Exemption Regulations with Oliver Heinisch
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and its widespread availability raise questions regarding its potential use in violating EU competition law. ...more
On Nov. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court declined certiorari for the U.S. v. Brewbaker decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, leaving undisturbed the ruling that heightens the burden on antitrust prosecutors...more
A clear case of horizontal price fixing. Private antitrust plaintiffs are increasingly bringing cases alleging that the use of a common, commercially available pricing algorithm by multiple competitors constitutes price...more
On February 6, 2024, the French Competition Authority ("l'Autorité") fined chocolate producer De Neuville 4 million euros for vertical agreements. This decision is interesting in several respects...more
On 29 July 2023, a significant amendment to the Czech Act on the Protection of Competition (the Competition Act) enters into force. In addition to a very belated (two and a half years!) transposition of the ECN+ Directive No....more
On June 29, 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a preliminary ruling in the Super Bock Bebidas vs. Autoridade da Concorrência case (C-211/22) on the questions referred by the Tribunal da Relaçao...more
Whilst not a sea of difference apart, the two regimes present notable distinctions for companies operating on both sides of the Channel to navigate. Upon its expiry on 31 May 2022, the 2010 Vertical Block Exemption...more
The Israel Competition Authority (ICA) recently published a revised public statement on the regulation of resale price maintenance (RPM) arrangements. Under such arrangements, an entity in the goods supply chain (typically, a...more
The last week has seen crucial developments at the European Commission (EC) and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the antitrust review of the $7.1 billion proposed acquisition by Illumina (the leading supplier of...more
Join the Hogan Lovells Antitrust and Competition team on Thursday, September 29, 2022 for a discussion on the key recent changes to the vertical agreement block exemptions in both the EU and UK: - Highlighting the key...more
On 12 July 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority published final guidance for its new antitrust rules governing vertical agreements. The new rules provide additional flexibility for the design of distribution...more
On 10 May 2022, the European Commission adopted new EU competition rules for vertical distribution agreements that entered into force on 1 June 2022, bringing important amendments to the current rules by partly narrowing the...more
Recent actions by the Saudi Arabia competition authority confirm that the agency is adopting a more aggressive enforcement approach, particularly involving consumer-facing companies. The Saudi Arabian General Authority...more
On 1 June 2022, the European Commission’s revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and the accompanying Guidelines on Vertical Restraints entered into force. Adding to our article on the highly controversial issue...more
Zum 1. Juni 2022 ist eine neue Vertikal-Gruppenfreistellungsverordnung („Vertikal-GVO“) in Kraft getreten. Gleichzeitig hat die Europäische Kommission die begleitenden Vertikal-Leitlinien neu aufgelegt. Diese beiden...more
On May 10, 2022, the European Commission (“Commission”) adopted the revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and Vertical Guidelines (“VG”). The new VBER will enter into force on June 1, 2022 for a period of 12...more
The European Commission has now published the final text of the revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and the accompanying Guidelines on Vertical Restraints. The new rules will enter into force on 1 June 2022 and...more
Following an extended review, the European Commission ("Commission") has adopted revised competition law exemptions and guidance applicable to agreements in the vertical supply chain. EU antitrust law prohibits certain...more
On May 10 2022, the EU Commission adopted the new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and Vertical Guidelines. The regulation includes several significant new developments including readjusting the safe harbour and providing...more
On 10 May 2022, the European Commission (EC) published the revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER), together with the accompanying revised Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (Vertical Guidelines), which will replace...more
A few days ago, the Israeli Competition Authority published for public comments draft public statement 1/22, presenting its position on vertical price maintenance arrangements. The final public statement 1/22 will replace the...more
We’re checking in with our Europe-based expert on the latest European updates and upcoming changes for the third quarter of 2021 including updates on Brexit, European Union (EU) data protection policies, block exemption...more
Washington, D.C., Attorney General Racine Sues Amazon - On May 25, 2021, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine sued Amazon in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for alleged antitrust violations under...more
The Competition and Distribution team of BCLP's Paris office reviews some key news from the end of 2020, in particular: ..The “Dammann Frères” decision of 3 December 2020 concerning the tea manufacturer's online sales...more
The European Commission has taken a significant step toward the revision of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the Vertical Guidelines. With its evaluation phase ending, the Commission has recently presented...more