On November 15, 2023, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) concluded that Microsoft’s investments in and cooperation with OpenAI, Inc. (“OpenAI”) do not constitute a notifiable merger under German law. [1]
Factual Presumption For Causal Harm In Information Exchange Cases
On November 29, 2022, the German Federal Court of Justice (“FCJ”) overturned[1] a decision by the Frankfurt am Main Court of Appeal dismissing a damages action by the insolvent drugstore chain Schlecker.[2] The FCJ held that, in the case of an anticompetitive exchange of price-related information, there is a factual presumption of causal damage. The matter has been sent back to the Frankfurt am Main Court of Appeal for a new decision because, in the opinion of the FCJ, it had attached too light weight to a factual presumption.