On January 31, 2022, the Commission launched a formal investigation of Pierre Cardin and its largest licensee, the Ahlers Group (“Ahlers”) concerning the restriction of cross-border and online sales of Pierre Cardin-licensed products.[1] The Commission will investigate whether Pierre Cardin’s licensing agreement with Ahlers restricted parallel imports and sales to specific customer groups.
The investigation has important implications for businesses:[2] it reaffirms the Commission’s continued enforcement focus on online sales bans and restrictions of cross-border sales, following a series of cases since 2018.[3] Companies should carefully review their distribution agreements to ensure that counterparties are not limited in their ability to sell or effectively advertise online, or that there is at least a carefully crafted legitimate objective (such as the protection of the luxury image of the brand) that is laid down uniformly for all potential resellers, applied in a non-discriminatory fashion, and does not go beyond what is necessary, in line with the Court of Justice’s seminal Coty judgment.[4] Moreover, companies will likely have to re-assess their distribution agreements in more detail following the expected adoption of the new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation in June 2022.
More generally, the investigation, which follows on-site inspections the Commission carried out in Germany in June 2021, continues a trend of dawn raids the Commission has been planning since the relaxation of Covid-19 measures in Europe. The Commission has since conducted on-site inspections in the wood pulp industry[5] and most recently in the automotive sector.[6] As Commissioner Vestager noted in October 2021,[7] companies can expect more dawn raids in the coming months.[8]
Editors: Conor Opdebeeck-Wilson and Thorsten Schiffer
[1] Commission Press Release IP/22/682, “Antitrust: Commission opens investigation into licensing and distribution practices of fashion house Pierre Cardin and its licensee Ahlers,” January 31, 2022.
[2] Commission Press Release IP/21/3145, “Antitrust: Commission carries out unannounced inspections in the manufacturing and distribution of garments sector,” June 22, 2021.
[3] See, Asus (Case COMP/AT.40465), Denon & Marantz (Case COMP/AT.40469), Philips (Case COMP/AT.40181), and Pioneer (Case COMP/AT.40182), Commission decisions of July 24, 2018; Guess (Case COMP/AT.40428), Commission decision of December 17, 2018; Ancillary sports merchandise (Case COMP/ AT.40436), Commission decision of March 25, 2019; Character merchandise (Case COMP/AT.40432), Commission decision of September 9, 2019; Film merchandise (Case COMP/AT.40433), Commission decision of January 30, 2020; and Meliá (Holiday Pricing) (Case COMP/AT.40528), Commission decision of February 21, 2020.
[4] Coty Germany (Case C-230/16), EU:C:2017:941.
[5] Commission Press Release IP/21/5223, “Antitrust: Commission carries out unannounced inspections in the wood pulp sector,” October 12, 2021.
[6] Commission Press Release IP/22/1765, “Antitrust: Commission carries out unannounced inspections in the automotive sector,” March 15, 2022.
[7] Commissioner Vestager, A new era of cartel enforcement, Speech at the Italian Antitrust Association Annual Conference, Rome, October 22, 2021.
[8] Commissioner Vestager, A new era of cartel enforcement, Speech at the Italian Antitrust Association Annual Conference, Rome, October 22, 2021.