Purchasing community: Prohibited price maintenance
Price fixing by retailers in a purchasing group is prohibited. The Federal Cartel Office made this clear again in a press release published on January 29, 2019 on a fine decision. There are exceptions to this rule, but only within narrow limits. Read here what is possible under antitrust law. Author: Dr. Christian Andrelang, LL.M. Attorney-at-law Specialist in international commercial law Specialist in […]
Management liability: Breach of duty towards the GmbH
Managing director liability is a sensitive issue: The law stipulates that managing directors must exercise the care of a prudent businessman in the affairs of the company. A managing director who violates his duties is liable to the company for the damage caused. D&O insurance can protect him and the company. Author: Dr. Christian Andrelang, LL.M. Attorney-at-law Specialist in international commercial law […]
Authorized dealer compensation claim - without customer data?
Does an authorized dealer have a claim for compensation without the authorized dealer having to be contractually obliged to transfer his customer base? The Nuremberg Regional Court surprised everyone with a published advisory decision dated November 27, 2018, indicating that the only thing that matters is whether the entrepreneur has benefited from the business relationship with the authorized dealer. According to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice [...]
SME cartel – antitrust requirements
A medium-sized company cartel can bring significant competitive advantages to small and medium-sized companies in order to be able to compete with the large companies in a sector. This applies in particular to specialization cartels and rationalization cartels, which the GWB allows under certain conditions. Under the umbrella of a medium-sized company cartel, for example, price agreements and quota formation that are otherwise prohibited can be permitted. However, […]
Limited partner and non-competition clause in the GmbH & Co. KG
Unter welchen Voraussetzungen unterliegt ein Kommanditist einem Wettbewerbsverbot? Diese Frage spielt in der Praxis eine wichtige Rolle. Komplementäre einer GmbH & Co. KG haften persönlich und sind zur Geschäftsführung berufen. Sie unterliegen einem gesetzlichen Wettbewerbsverbot, §§ 112, 113 HGB. Hintergrund ist der Interessenkonflikt, einerseits die Interessen der Gesellschaft wahren zu müssen und andererseits die Möglichkeit […]
Antitrust Claims for Refusal to Ship
Eine Lieferverweigerung ist bei einer Spitzenstellung des Herstellers und der Abhängigkeit des Händlers kartellrechtlich unzulässig – wichtig für die Spitzenstellung ist die Distributionsrate, auch bei einer Umstellung auf den selektiven Vertrieb. Als Fachanwalt für Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht informiere ich Sie hier über die kartellrechtlichen Voraussetzungen eines Belieferungsanspruchs bei einer Lieferverweigerung. Autor: Dr. Christian Andrelang, LL.M. Rechtsanwalt […]
Antitrust Claims for Damages – Statute of Limitations
The private enforcement of antitrust law through antitrust damages claims by cartel victims is becoming increasingly important in practice. Over a hundred antitrust damages claims totalling hundreds of millions of euros are pending in Germany alone, in particular from the cement, rail, sugar and truck cartels. Antitrust damages claims and open legal questions relating to them are now also reaching the Federal Court of Justice. In its decision of June 12th […]
Sales representative or employee - self-employment as a decisive criterion
Sales representative or employee – an important question for companies. Many companies also rely on "external sales agents" to sell their products, especially sales representatives. After all, sales representatives have proven themselves in product marketing in many industries, as they work on a commission basis and sometimes bring their own customer base into sales. Sales representatives are used by European […]
Pricing Algorithms – Dynamic Pricing and Antitrust Law
Die Wettbewerbskommissarin Vestager bringt die Situation der Unternehmen und das Verhältnis zwischen Unternehmen und dem Wettbewerbsrecht auf den Punkt, wenn sie sinngemäß sagt: Es mag nicht einfach sein zu verstehen, wie diese Preisalgorithmen funktionieren, aber Unternehmen können sich ihrer Verantwortung für kartellrechtswidrige Kollusion, also Zusammenwirken, nicht dadurch entziehen, indem sie sich hinter Preisalgorithmen verstecken. ##Preisalgorithmen […]
Prohibition of price search engines and their use
Prohibition of price search engines and their use - Federal Court of Justice protects retailers. The prohibition of price search engines and their use by retailers is not permitted, even in a selective distribution system. Manufacturers and retailers should now have their contractual situation legally examined. ##The Asics case The jurisprudence and the Federal Cartel Office are increasingly faced with new methods of online marketing and [...]