Directors to face tougher penalties for competition law breaches – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 19th, 2009 in company directors, competition, news by sally

“The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) plans to extend company director bans to include not just those who were directly involved in competition law offences but those who should have done more to prevent them.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 19th August 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Commission defies supermarkets over ombudsman – The Independent

Posted August 5th, 2009 in competition, news by sally

“Britain’s competition watchdog insisted that supermarkets should be independently regulated after finding evidence they abused their dominance by acting aggressively towards suppliers.”

Full story

The Independent, 4th August 2009

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Bookmakers’ Afternoon Greyhound Services Ltd and others v Amalgamated Racing Ltd and others – WLR Daily

Posted July 31st, 2009 in competition, law reports by sally

Bookmakers’ Afternoon Greyhound Services Ltd and others v Amalgamated Racing Ltd and others [2009] EWCA Civ 76; [2009] WLR (D) 263

“A co-operative venture between several business participants as the necessary and proportionate means to enter a new market to achieve the overall objective of the venture was not anti-competitive contrary to art 81EC of the EC Treaty.”

WLR Daily, 30th July 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Racecourse price agreements did not break competition law, says Court of Appeal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 31st, 2009 in competition, gambling, media, news by sally

“Racecourses did not break competition laws when they decided to sell their television rights only to a company that they owned. A rival company owned by betting shops has lost its case at the Court of Appeal.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 30th July 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Enron Coal Services Ltd (in liquidation) v English Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd – Times Law Reports

Posted July 21st, 2009 in competition, damages, jurisdiction, law reports, striking out, tribunals by sally

Enron Coal Services Ltd (in liquidation) v English Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd

Court of Appeal

“A challenge to a finding by a regulator of infringement of a prohibition, including the prohibition on the abuse of a dominant position, should be made to the Competition Appeal Tribunal under section 46 of the Competition Act 1998. A claim for damages based on a definitive finding of infringement by a regulator was to be made under section 47A of the 1998 Act, as inserted by section 18(1) of the Enterprise Act 2002.”

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Hutchison 3G UK Ltd v Office of Communications (British Telecommunications plc and another intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted July 20th, 2009 in competition, law reports, telecommunications by sally

Hutchison 3G UK Ltd v Office of Communications (British Telecommunications plc and another intervening) [2009] EWCA Civ 683; [2009] WLR (D) 245

“Where the relevant regulator was considering whether a mobile telecommunications company had ‘significant market power’ under the governing statutory regime the dispute resolution powers of the regulator were properly to be disregarded.”

WLR Daily, 17th July 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Watchdog defends plan to combat ‘Tesco towns’ – The Guardian

Posted July 17th, 2009 in competition, news by sally

“The competition watchdog is standing firm on its plans to introduce a new test into the planning system in a bid to combat the dominance of big supermarket chains.”

Full story

The Guardian, 16th July 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

BCL Old Co Ltd and Others v BASF SE and Others – Times Law Reports

Posted July 9th, 2009 in competition, law reports, time limits by sally

BCL Old Co Ltd and Others v BASF SE and Others

Court of Appeal

“The two-year time limit for bringing a claim for loss resulting from an infringement of EC or UK competition rules could be postponed where there was an appeal against the infringement itself. The time limit continued to run, however, where there was an appeal against the penalty imposed.”

The Times, 9th July 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Enron Coal Services Ltd (in liquidation) v English Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted July 3rd, 2009 in competition, damages, jurisdiction, law reports, striking out, tribunals by sally

Enron Coal Services Ltd (in liquidation) v English Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd [2009] EWCA Civ 647; [2009] WLR (D) 224

“The jurisdiction of the Competition Appeal Tribunal under s 47A of the Competition Act 1998 was limited to the determination of follow-on claims for damages based on a finding by a regulator of infringement of a relevant prohibition. Such a finding was not only a pre-condition to the making of a s 47A(1) claim, it also determined and defined the claim’s limits and the tribunal’s jurisdiction in respect of it. The Court of Appeal had jurisdiction under s 49 of the 1998 Act to hear an appeal against a strike-out decision of the tribunal under r 40 of the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2003, whether that decision was to strike out or not to strike out a claim.”

WLR Daily, 2nd July 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Software acquisition anti-competitive, says regulator as partial sale is forced on Capita – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 5th, 2009 in competition, mergers, news by sally

“A software company must sell one of the divisions of a recently acquired former rival immediately or it will be forced to sell the whole company, the Competition Commission has ruled. The merger would damage competition in a specialised software market, it said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 5th June 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

A single meeting can count as market-rigging activity, says ECJ – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 5th, 2009 in competition, EC law, news by sally

“A group of companies can be guilty of breaking competition law even if they only meet once and the action taken does not result in higher prices for consumers, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 4th June 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Competition referral may call time on tied pubs – The Times

Posted May 13th, 2009 in competition, licensed premises, news by sally

“A parliamentary committee has delivered a stinging rebuke to Britain’s biggest tenanted pub companies after concluding that the ‘tied’ business model should be referred to the Competition Commission.”

Full story

The Times, 13th May 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Emerald Supplies Ltd v British Airways plc – WLR Daily

Posted April 14th, 2009 in civil procedure rules, class actions, competition, law reports by sally

Emerald Supplies Ltd v British Airways plc [2009] EWHC 741 (Ch); [2009] WLR (D) 136

“The court had no jurisdiction to make a representation order under CPR r 19.6 where the criteria for inclusion in the class depended on the outcome of the action itself.”

WLR Daily, 9th April 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Northern Rock rescue ‘did not limit competition’ – The Times

Posted March 11th, 2009 in banking, competition, nationalisation, news by sally

“The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has concluded that nationalising Northern Rock has had no ‘significant adverse’ impact on competition across financial services.”

Full story

The Times, 10th March 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

OFT launches competition inquiry on the buses – The Times

Posted March 6th, 2009 in competition, news, transport by sally

“The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) began an investigation into local bus services yesterday. The regulator said that the inquiry had been prompted by increasing concentration in the sector, which, after a number of takeovers, had left nearly two thirds of services controlled by only five large operators: Arriva, Go-Ahead, Stagecoach, FirstGroup and National Express.”

Full story 

The Times, 6th March 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Tesco wins appeal on competition test – The Guardian

Posted March 4th, 2009 in competition, news by sally

“Tesco has won an appeal against a proposal from competition watchdogs which could have severely restricted the number of new stores it can open.”

Full story

The Guardian, 4th March 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Commission tackles Microsoft again over product bundling – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 22nd, 2009 in competition, EC law, news by sally

“Microsoft is abusing its dominant position in the PC software market by including its browser software with every Windows operating system it sells, the European Commission has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 21st January 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

T-Mobile (UK) Ltd and Another v Office of Communications – Times Law Reports

Posted December 18th, 2008 in competition, judiciary, law reports, telecommunications, tribunals by sally

T-Mobile (UK) Ltd and Another v Office of Communications

Court of Appeal

“An appeal from a decision of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) concerning the award of wireless telegraphy licences lay by way of judicial review and not to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.”

The Times, 18th December 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

T Mobile (UK) Ltd and another v Office of Communications – WLR Daily

Posted December 17th, 2008 in competition, judicial review, law reports, telecommunications, tribunals by sally

T Mobile (UK) Ltd and another v Office of Communications [2008] EWCA Civ 1373; [2008] WLR (D) 391

A challenge to a the decision of the Office of Communications (‘Ofcom’) concerning the award of wireless telegraphy licences lay by way of a claim for judicial review and not an appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (‘CAT’).”

WLR Daily, 16th December 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.


Office of Fair Trading ticking-off over VAT cuts surprises retailers – The Times

Posted December 10th, 2008 in competition, news, VAT by sally

“As cartels go, it does not seem the sort to keep competition lawyers awake at night.”

Full story

The Times, 10th December 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk