Nederlands

  • A competition authority is conducting an investigation at your premises going through all your files and administration. You need legal representation and someone who will defend your rights.
  • You are considering to submit a leniency application at one of the competition authorities and you need legal representation.
  • Procedures at the competition authority or at the courts are on the verge of starting and you need expert legal representation.
Contact us in order to know where you stand!
Case | Cartel in the industry – Legal representation

 

The world’s leading manufacturer of industrial batteries of US origin was involved in a price fixing cartel investigation of the Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets and had applied for leniency. We were acting as the legal representatives of the manufacturer in the cartel investigation and the leniency procedure.

We analysed the evidence taken by the authority and drafted for the manufacturer the possible scenarios and its legal consequences. We advised the US client on their rights according to Dutch and European competition law and represented the manufacturer at the hearings of the ACM.

Case | Court case in electronic equipment – Legal representation

 

A wholesaler in electronic equipment was sued in court by one of its online retailers. The retailer was making use of the brands and product photos of the wholesaler. The wholesaler decided to communicate new advertisement prices to its retailers and asked them to maintain a minimum resale price for them and to mention these on their websites. After having repeatedly pointed out to the retailer in question that it was advertising the ‘wrong’ prices on its website, the wholesaler ended their relationship.

The retailer however continued to use the images and brands of the wholesaler. The district court decided this to be allowed, as the termination of the contract in this manner was judged to be unlawful. The court decided that the wholesaler had terminated the contract, because the retailer was not sticking to the minimum resale prices being imposed and that this was forbidden according to competition law. 

The wholesaler’s lawyer contacted us to get competition law expertise in the case in appeal. In appeal, however, the higher court decided that the termination of the contract was done lawfully. The higher court rejected the argument of the retailer and agreed to our reasoning that the retailer had insufficiently proven that it would be a noticeable restriction of competition and that the termination therefore was not unlawful according to competition law.  All competition law arguments we put in resulted in the wholesaler winning the case in higher court.