In a press release dated December 15, 2021, the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”) announced the opening of a public consultation on Google’s proposed commitments in the “related rights” case. These commitments seek to address the preliminary competition concerns expressed by the FCA Investigation Services, who are still pursuing the proceedings on the merits following an interim measures decision issued in April 2020.
The area of standards, and licensing of Standard Essential Patents (“SEPs”) on “fair reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (“FRAND”) is alive as ever. There are developments in three jurisdictions:
On December 9, 2021, following ex officio proceedings,[1] the German Cartel Office (“FCO”) concluded that the acquisition of customer relationship management software provider Kustomer, Inc., (“Kustomer”) by Facebook Inc., re-named Meta Platforms Inc. (“Meta”) since October 2021, is notifiable under the German merger control regime as it falls under the € 400 million transaction value threshold of the ARC[2] and asked Meta to submit documents to review the transaction.[3] On January 11, 2022, the parties notified the transaction to the FCO.
On December 7, 2021, the Commission, the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) published a Joint Statement establishing the EU-U.S. Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue (the “Policy Dialogue”).
Businesses applying for aid in disadvantaged regions of the EU will face new rules after December 31, 2021.
The new
Cleary Gottlieb partners Romano Subiotto QC and Robbert Snelders, in collaboration with our Antitrust practice, are thrilled to present
In 2021, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) concluded three major proceedings on resale price maintenance and vertical price fixing. It fined five musical instrument companies a total of € 21 million for resale price maintenance and horizontal price-fixing, a backpack maker € 2 million for setting minimum retail prices, and consumer electronics manufacturer € 7 million for resale price maintenance. These cases illustrate that the FCO considers resale price maintenance a serious infringement for which it imposes significant fines.
On November 18, 2021, the Court of Justice clarified the framework for assessing anticompetitive agreements between a software developer and its distributors, and ordered a Latvian court to revisit its analysis before adjudicating on the case.[1]
On November 18, 2021, the Commission published its communication entitled “a competition policy fit for new challenges” (the “Communication”).[1] The Communication identifies several areas where an adjusted competition policy could help overcome new challenges the European economy is facing. In particular, the Communication discusses competition policy’s role in Europe’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, in supporting the European green[2] and digital transition,[3] and in strengthening the Single market’s resilience.