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Blog o’ Blogs December

By  |  December 28, 2017

The holiday season brings us plenty of reasons to look back at the rollercoaster year of 2017. Sea-changes in legislation in the largest economies, redoubled efforts in enforcement, and global deals giving newly-organized jurisdictions the chance to flex fresh muscles make for an exciting way to send off the year…

his case concerns a dispute between Coty Germany GmbH, a supplier of luxury cosmetic products, and Parfümerie Akzente GmbH, an authorised retailer. Coty Germany, a subsidiary of the US parent company Coty Inc., sells luxury cosmetics in Germany through a selective distribution network of authorised distributors.
Yves Botteman, Daniel Barrio Barrio (Steptoe & Johnson LLP)
A Pro-Free Market Approach to Brexit Negotiations Is Key
The terms of the United Kingdom’s (UK) exit from the European Union (EU) – “Brexit” – are of great significance not just to UK and EU citizens, but for those in the United States and around the world who value economic liberty
Alden Abbott (Truth on the Market)
There has been growing interest in the legal community in artificial intelligence (AI), and more specifically in machine learning (ML). This recent interest in AI is at least in part driven by concerns about algorithmic collusion, i.e., the possibility that computer algorithms could ultimately collude on their own, without human facilitation.
Robert Connolly; Ai Deng (Chilling Competition)
Can Cofece unilaterally regulate services? Cofece challenges Mexican government’s executive branch
On November 22nd, 2017 the Mexican Federal Commission of Economic Competition (“Cofece”) challenged before the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice the “Decree of Amendments to the Regulation of the Airports Law” (“Decree”) and the “General Guidelines for the Assignment of Landing and Take-Off Slots in Saturated Airports” (“General Guidelines”) reforming the current rules for airport management and slot allocation passed by Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto on September 29th, 2017.
Marta Loubet (Knect365)
Reactions to DG Comp’s beer investigation
A few days ago the European Commission opened an investigation into an alleged abrewse of dominance to restrict beer imports into Belgium. Ale those of you that thought we would barley survive without endives will now hopfully realize that this blog is lager than one single product. At yeast, we now have a hopportunity to show that we can focus on the big pitcher
Alfonso Lamadrid (Chilling Competition)
China eliminates antitrust overlaps in Anti-Unfair Competition Law
On 4 November 2017, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed the amendments to China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law (AUCL).  The amendments will take effect from 1 January 2018. This is the first time that the AUCL has been revised since its entry into force in 1993.
Adrian Emch (Hogan Lovells, Kluwer Competition)
Major changes proposed to the Competition Act in South Africa
There are over 140 jurisdictions globally that have some form of merger control. For multinational companies this means that transactions are likely to trigger filings in several different jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction varies by regime maturity, filing thresholds and compulsion…
(Norton Rose Fulbright)
Regulatory capture and the progressive cause in competition law
For the people of my generation, Ralph Nader is the left-of-centre candidate whose participation in the 2000 election paved the way for George W Bush’s victory. For older people, the name is associated with his activism during the 1970s. What does Ralph Nader have to do with competition law? Take a look back at the early years. Doing so helps put some issues in perspective. Regulatory capture is one of these issues…
Pablo Ibañez Colomo (Chilling Competition)
Does a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) Policy Violate the Antitrust Laws?
We see many antitrust issues in the distribution world—and from all business perspectives: supplier, wholesale distributor, authorized retailer, and unauthorized retailer, among others. And at the retail level, we hear from both internet and brick-and-mortar stores.
Jarod Bona (The Antitrust Attorney)
Product hopping: The competition law risks of launching new product formulations
‘Product hopping’, or ‘evergreening’, are expressions used (by antitrust authorities and industry respectively) to describe strategies employed by pharmaceutical companies to protect sales of a successful drug on the verge of losing patent protection.
by Sophie Lawrance, Matthew Hunt (Bristows LLP; Kluwer Competition)
Portugal Isn’t a Horseman of the Net Neutrality Apocalypse
Unexpectedly, on the day that the white copy of the upcoming repeal of the 2015 Open Internet Order was published, a mobile operator in Portugal with about 7.5 million subscribers is garnering a lot of attention. Curiously, it’s not because Portugal is a beautiful country…
Allen Gibby (Covington & Burling – Kluwer Competition)
The Ukrainian Competition Authority’s latest decision in the pharmaceutical sector
More than a year has passed since the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) completed its first investigations into the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market. However, it has recently struck another blow yet again and, one should say, with renewed vigour.
Timur Bondaryev, Dmytro Galchynskyi (Arzinger; Kluwer Competition)