The 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…
The 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…
Google 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…
Following 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…
The 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…
The 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…
The 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…
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has opened an investigation into the proposed private equity consortium takeover of Inmarsat. Inmarsat is the UK headquartered leading global mobile satellite communications provider of connectivity to ships, aircraft, and generally to locations not covered by traditional mobile networks. Moreover, it is reported that the CMA has also…
The European Commission has fined US chipmaker Qualcomm €242 million for abuse of market dominance in 3G baseband chipsets. The chipsets are a key component which enable smartphones and computer tablets to connect to the internet via 3G. The European Commission has found that company engaged in predatory pricing, “with the intention of eliminating a…
The European Commission has today announced the opening of a formal antitrust investigation against tech giant Amazon. The investigation is to assess whether Amazon’s use of sensitive data from independent retailers selling on its marketplace breaches EU Competition Law. With the European Commission having issued record-breaking fines in recent years against Google for illegal leveraging…
