Posts tagged #Competition Law
All PostsShrinkflation: Austrian Government Bill on Anti-Deceptive Packaging
Competition LawThe Austrian Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy and Tourism has introduced a government bill regarding legislation on misleading packaging. Under this new law, products whose quantity was reduced without a matching decrease in price must b...
Austrian OGH on Mandatory Translation Fees
Competition LawIn antitrust proceedings, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has referred a request for a review of the law to the Austrian Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VfGH). The request seeks the repeal ...
GER: BGH on Consumer Protection and GDPR Breaches
Competition LawA breach of data protection obligations to inform users of social networks about the scope and purpose of collection as well as use of their personal data by the operator of that network justifies claims for injunctive relief under competition law an...
Austrian OGH on Misleading Price Advertising
Competition LawIn the case at hand, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) was called upon to determine whether the defendant company’s practice of advertising smartphones as costing ‘EUR Zero’ was permissible, despite the fact that the ...
Austrian OGH Rules on Cartel Fines
Competition LawIn one of its most recent rulings, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) ruled on the amount of a fine to be imposed for the unauthorised implementation of a merger under the Austrian Competition Act. The purpose of such ...
OGH: Trade Secrets Require Confidentiality Measures
Competition LawThe mere desire to keep something secret is not enough to assume that it is a secret requiring legal protection. Rather, there must be appropriate measures to maintain confidentiality on the part of the person in possession of the information. The pl...
EU Competition Law: 14 Portuguese Banks Exchanged Information
Competition LawFor more than 10 years, 14 Portuguese credit institutions have been exchanging information with each other. This could constitute a restriction of competition by object, according to a Portuguese national court. The case has been referred to the Euro...
OGH: All Flavour, No Fruit in Misleading Juice Ad
Competition LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has made it clear that using flavouring in soft drinks is misleading if consumers would expect real fruit juice judging from the packaging. The defendants manufacture and market a sof...
GER: Amended GWB to Modernise Competition Law
Competition LawThe 11th amendment to the Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkung) is a response to the critical price developments following Russia’s attack on Ukraine and a further step towards modernising competition law. The a...
‘Carbon Neutral’ Flights? AUA under Fire for Greenwashing
Competition LawSustainability is a valuable marketing tool, but it should not be taken too far. Austrian Airlines’ “carbon neutral flights” ads overstepped the bounds, turning greenwashing into unfair competition. In the case at hand, Austrian Airlines (AUA) promot...
GER: Antitrust Fines: Are Managers Personally Liable?
Competition LawManaging directors are not personally liable for cartel fines imposed on a company. This was recently confirmed by the German Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court. There are separate rules on fines in the provisions of cartel law, the court says. The de...
Brand Litigation: Jägermeister Prevails in IP Dispute
Competition LawThe packaging of the well-known Jägermeister herbal liqueur was imitated by a discount-label retailer. Jägermeister took action against this by obtaining an injunction throughout the EU. The action was brought by the proprietor of the word mark Jäger...
ECJ: Minimum prices and Prohibition of Cartels
Competition LawThe European Court of Justice (hereinafter ECJ) has clarified its case law on the concept of ‘agreement’ under Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The initial facts of the case were as follows: The Portuguese ma...
Austrian Building Cartel: Proceedings against STRABAG to Continue
Competition LawThe Austrian Federal Competition Authority (Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde, hereinafter BWB) was successful in its appeal to the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH). The cartel court of first instance is now obliged to continue t...
GER: Cartel Office Accuses Deutsche Bahn of Market Power Abuse
Competition LawThe German Federal Cartel Office (hereinafter Bundeskartellamt) has accused German Railways (Deutsche Bahn, hereinafter DB) of abusing its market power. According to the Bundeskartellamt, DB is exploiting its key position. As a result, competition wi...
OGH: Unfair Competition after Concealment of Circumstances
Competition LawDoes the claim ‘The brand most recommended by the leading dishwasher manufacturers’ constitute unfair competition? This was the question to be decided by the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) after a manufacturer of dishw...
ECJ: Binding Effect for Nullity under Art 101 TFEU
Competition LawThe European Court of Justice has ruled that in the context of actions for annulment under Art 101(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter TFEU), for infringements of competition law, those previously issued decisions i...
OGH on Vienna Taxi Fares
Competition Law The Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) considered that surcharges on Vienna taxi fares can be interpreted in a sense that they are not compulsory. The plaintiff provides passenger transport services via car taxis. The fi...
GER: Drugstore Cartel – Damages for Insolvent Schlecker?
Competition LawThe German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) ruled that if competitors secretly exchange information on price-setting vis-à-vis a joint customer, this underscores the experience in principle that prices that are subsequent...
OGH as Cartel Court: Double Jeopardy for Sugar Cartel
Competition LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH), in its capacity as the Supreme Cartel Court, has found anti-competitive conduct affecting the Austrian market by Nordzucker AG and Südzucker AG. Unlike the court of first instance, t...
EU Commission Updates Definition of ‘Relevant Market’
Competition LawThe EU Commission is updating its publication on the definition of the ‘relevant market’ (i.e. market definition) in competition law and has now presented a comprehensive draft. Many of the proposals are evidently based on proceedings against US tech...
ECJ Advocate General: No Gap-Closing under EUMR
Competition LawIn a recent Opinion, Advocate General Kokott takes the view that a merger of businesses can be reviewed under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) even if a merger does not meet the turnover thresholds for applica...
ECJ on the essential facilities doctrine
Competition LawAccording to the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), under certain circumstances a company abuses its dominant position if it denies competing companies access to its infrastructure. In a dispute in the telecommunications sector, the ECJ...
FCA does not like Facebook's takeover of GIPHY
Competition LawThe Austrian Federal Competition Authority (FCA) is currently investigating the takeover of the US GIF and sticker platform GIPHY by the US Facebook group. The merger had not been notified - possibly unjustly, according to the FCA. In May 2020, Faceb...
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