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France: Google wins court decision vs Evermaps

By  |  November 29, 2015

Google has won a court case on appeal against French mapping company Bottin Cartographies, since renamed Evermaps, which had sued it in 2009 for anti-competitive behaviour in offering Google Maps free of charge to businesses, reports Les Echos. At the time, the company claimed that Google’s policy would cost it at least EUR 800,000 in lost sales for 2009 and 2010.

The Paris Commercial Court had ordered Google to pay EUR 500,000 in damages, judging that Google sought to eliminate all competitors and put its own service forward in search results.

In 2013, the appellate court sought the advice of France’s Competition Authority, which found Google’s behaviour was not predatory. The latest decision followed the authority’s advice.

The court said that the disappearance of some businesses is not directly attributable to Google’s strategy. It ordered Evermaps to pay Google Inc and Google France EUR 20,000 each for costs.

Full content: Global Competition Review

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