In MasterCard and Others v. Commission, the European Court of Justice adviser Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi, backed a European Commission decision drastically reducing MasterCard Inc.’s bank-to-bank credit card processing fees. Advocate general rejected MasterCard’s argument that the lower court used the wrong standard in deciding whether the court should treat the company’s conduct as a […]
Category Archives: EU News
EC Advocate General Advises UC Court to Affirm a Ban on Credit Card Processing Fees
January 31, 2014 – 6:12 pm
EU Inspects Electronic Manufacturers and Distributors Due To Suspicions of Online Price Manipulation
December 19, 2013 – 3:13 pm
The European Commission announced that it made several unannounced inspections at several companies active in the manufacture, distribution, and retail of consumer electronics throughout the European Union. Although the Commission did not publicly disclose the names of the companies, according to the Associated Press, the companies include Samsung Group, Royal Phillips NV, and Media-Saturn-Holding GmbH. […]
Samsung Pledges to EU that It Will Use Circumspection in Seeking Injunctions for Infringement of Standard Essential Patents
October 31, 2013 – 3:50 pm
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has told the European Commission that it will limit attempts to enjoin infringers of its standard-essential patents for five years in exchange for the EC’s ending an antitrust investigation into the company’s assertion of its patents rights against Apple Inc. The Commission believes that Samsung sought to enjoin Apple, even though […]
EU Fines Patented Drug Maker and Generics for Reverse Payment Settlement
September 8, 2013 – 11:43 am
The European Commission fined Lundbeck $125.6 million for paying its competitors, Merk KGaA, Ranbaxy Laboratories, and Xellia Pharmaceuticals, in 2002 to delay entering the market with generic versions of Lundbeck’s antidepressant citalopram. Joaquin Almunia, EC vice president for competition policy, explained that the Commission could not accept “that a company pays off its competitors to […]
EC Accuses Banks of Blocking CDS Exchange Trading
July 30, 2013 – 4:54 pm
After a nearly two-year investigation, the European Trade Commission accused 13 of the world’s largest banks as well as International Swaps and Derivatives Association Inc. (ISDA) and Markit Group Ltd. of colluding to block two exchanges from establishing credit-default swap exchanges by denying them the necessary licenses to operate the trading platforms. According to the […]
EU Finds Google Too Aggressive in Attempt to Enforce Patents
June 21, 2013 – 1:56 pm
The European Commission issued a statement of objections to Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility indicating the Commission’s concern that the company may have abused its dominant market position when seeking to ban sales in Germany of Apple products that allegedly infringe Motorola’s standard essential mobile phone patents. In the EU, patented technology that manufacturers must use […]
EU Court Dismisses Antitrust Claims Against Microsoft
June 19, 2013 – 2:45 pm
In Omnis Group v. Commission, a European Union court upheld the European Commission’s refusal to pursue a Romanian software company’s antitrust complaint against Microsoft Corp. The company accused Microsoft of using software licensing deals with Romanian government to monopolize enterprise application software in the Romanian market. The EC rejected Omnis’ complaint and declined to open […]
EU Raids Energy Giants Due To Benchmark Rate Manipulation Concerns
May 29, 2013 – 5:43 pm
The European Commission (EC) raided several energy giants, including BP PLC, Statoil, Platts, McGraw Hill Financial – which publishes benchmark price assessments for the energy industry. EC carried out the raids due to concerns that the companies might have colluded on providing distorted prices to a price-reporting agency in order to manipulate the benchmark rates […]
EU Finds that Drug Makers Violated Antitrust Laws by Slowing Generic Entry
March 21, 2013 – 5:06 pm
The European Commission has preliminarily concluded that Johnson & Johnson and Novartis violated EU antitrust law by agreeing to delay the introduction of the generic painkiller fentanyl. J&J agreed to make a reverse payment to delay entry of the generic for about 18 months. The commission will conduct additional analysis before reaching a final conclusion. […]
DOJ Expands Its Investigation Into Auto Industry’s Price Fixing and Bid Rigging
February 26, 2013 – 2:23 pm
A criminal investigation into price-fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry between 2000 and 2010, conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, Japan Fair Trade Commission, and antitrust officials in Europe, has expanded, according to DOJ’s deputy assistant attorney, Scott Hammond. The probe, which previously involved a number of products including automatic wire […]