As currently being announced in the press, an amended draft text for a Brexit Withdrawal Agreement has been agreed between the UK and the European Union. Next is the vote by Parliament this weekend, where it is far from certain that the proposed bill will receive the majority support necessary to progress through the legislature.…
DetailsThe European Commission has fined Canon €28 million after finding that it had partially implemented an acquisition of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (“TMSC”) before merger control notification. The EU operates a compulsory notification system, meaning parties must notify the European Commission of plans to merge before the transaction is completed. In this scenario, TMSC had…
DetailsThe UK food industry has requested that it be granted a waiver from certain provisions of competition law in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Producers and distributors, including major supermarkets, are reported to have “repeatedly” asked the Government for a reprieve from rules which prevent collaborating on supply or pricing plans, in order to…
DetailsGoogle has announced a plan to allow rival search engines to compete to be a default search engine on new Android devices in Europe. Under the proposal, customers would have a choice of four default search engines, including Google, to choose from when setting up their phones. The proposal follows the European Commission fining Google…
DetailsFollowing an investigation opened in April 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has issued a £3.7m fine against Casio Electronics for pressuring retailers to sell its digital pianos and keyboards at high minimum prices. The practice, known as Resale Price Maintenance, or “RPM”, is against competition law, The fine is the highest the CMA…
DetailsThe blurring lines of data controllers: a case for joint responsibility of website operators and social media giants In recent days, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) ruled on a crucial matter regarding the privacy-compliant integration of a Facebook ‘Like‘ Button by Fashion ID, a German website operator (C-40/17). In a…
DetailsThe European Commission has announced a formal investigation into Broadcom, a US chipmaker, regarding alleged abuse of a dominant position in the markets for modem and television chipsets. In doing so, the European Commission has indicated that it intends to impose interim measures to restrain any exclusionary practices the chipmaker may be engaging in. This…
DetailsThe battle of the tech titans continues as Google launches a new shopping service in the US which provides users with product suggestions based on their internet search history. Reported to be a move to tackle the rise of Amazon in product search and associated advertising revenues, it will be interesting to see whether the…
DetailsOfcom has announced a £1.4 million fine against mobile provider Giffgaff. This follows an Ofcom investigation in which Giffgaff was found to have overcharged millions of customers due to an error in its billing system. In total, customers are said to have been overcharged almost £2.9 million. Ofcom’s press release can be found here. Please…
DetailsThe US Department of Justice has announced that it will be reviewing the practices employed by market-leading online platforms in terms of whether they create or maintain structural impediments to competition in the market. The announcement follows the launch of similar antitrust investigations by regulators around the world, targeting online platform giants such as Google…
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