Competitive Edge: Competition & EU Law - August 2023

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In Focus

The Draft EU SEP Regulation – A Practitioner’s Critical View

The EU has embarked on a mission. A mission to reduce transaction costs in Standard Essential Patents (“SEP”) licensing and litigation. With its latest proposal for SEP Regulation, the EU Commission aims at the dissemination of technology for the mutual benefit of SEP holders and standard implementers. An ambitious claim. Can the SEP Proposal deliver? Not necessarily, I believe.

Read more to find out why.

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Updates from our jurisdictions

EU

The value of decisions from national competition authorities in follow-on cases: the 2023 Repsol judgement

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For more information, please contact Janneke Kohlen, Reshmi Rampersad and Matteo Stainer.

Australia

Putting the ‘Art’ in ‘Cartel’: Australian competition regulator successful in attempted bid rigging proceedings

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For more information, please contact Thomas Jones, Matthew Bovaird, Patrick Cordwell or Dylan McGirr.

Czech Republic

Czech Competition Office stronger than ever – how are competitors affected by the new amendment?

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For more information, please contact Vojtech Chloupek or Martin Taimr.

Denmark

Fixing prices doesn’t fix competition – Danish online platform found to restrict competition by agreeing on fixed prices

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For more information, please contact Morten Nissen, Alexander Brøchner or Nanna Sofie Krabbe.

Italy

“Just one cornetto, give it to me…”: the Unilever Italian ice cream saga comes to an end

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For more information, please contact Lucia Antonazzi or Federico Marini Balestra.

Netherlands

The Dutch market for fast internet is sufficiently competitive

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For more information, please contact Janneke Kohlen, Reshmi Rampersad and Matteo Stainer.

Poland

Dawn raids relating to agriculture machinery in Poland

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For more information, please contact Marcin Alberski or Szymon Golebiowski.

Events, webinars, conferences

Webinar

Do’s & don’ts for cooperating with competitors – the new EU rules

14 September | 13:00 - 14:00 CEST

On 1 July 2023, the European Commission adopted and published the revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations (“HBERs”) on (i) research & development (R&D) agreements and (ii) specialisation agreements, accompanied by the revised Horizontal Guidelines.

Would you like to understand the main changes to this legislation, which governs cooperation agreements between competitors? Then please join our webinar, in which our Bird & Bird Competition law experts Pauline Kuipers, Morten Nissen, Janneke Kohlen, Joerg Witting and Federico Marini Balestra will discuss key aspects of the new rules that companies should consider when engaging in forms of cooperation with (potential) competitors, including:

• Introduction to the new regime
• HBERs for R&D and Specialisation Agreements
• Joint purchasing agreements / buying alliances
• Standardisation Agreements
• Information exchange
• Sustainability

Register for the webinar 

Webinar: EU Foreign Direct Investments regulations

The Nordics - similar, yet so different. Key regional legal issues for you to consider.

18 September | 13:00 - 14:30 CET

In this webinar, we will cover:

• Background to the EU wide screening mechanism
• Current state of implementation
• Foreign Direct Investments: the who’s, the what’s and the processes
• Scopes and which sectors to pay special attention to
• Deal Terms & Negotiations

Our Competition and Corporate law experts in Denmark, Sweden and Finland Morten Nissen, Katia Duncker, Alexander Brøchner, Maria Carlsson, Michael Butler and Caroline Grotenfelt will guide you through these topics. Feel free to reach out to them with questions ahead of the webinar.

Register for the webinar 

In-person seminar - Belgium

Tech-transfer, R&D and licensing agreements: Exploring New Opportunities & Insights in Belgium

21 September | 16:00 - 18:00 CEST
Bird & Bird Brussels office

In this seminar, our Corporate, IP and Competition law experts Cedric Berckmans, Jean-Christophe Troussel, Baptist Vleeshouwers, Lisa Gius and Auriane Schokaert will shed light on the latest developments in Belgian contract law and the new opportunities they bring for tech-transfer, R&D and licensing agreements.

They will cover the full life cycle of tech-transfer, R&D and licensing contracts, starting with the negotiation and execution of the contract through to its termination. For each step, you will be guided through the recent updates to the Belgian Civil Code and their practical applications. In addition, you will understand the main aspects to look out for under competition law. Throughout the session, comparisons will be drawn with other jurisdictions, where relevant.

The 1.5-hour seminar will be followed by networking drinks.

More information and registration

Conference

Lear Competition Festival 2023

26 - 29 September

Rome, Italy | WeGil - Largo Ascianghi 5

Bird & Bird is proud to be a partner of this unique four-day event in Rome focused on competition law, where participants will be able to gain a deeper understanding of specific antitrust issues through discussions, know-how sessions, networking events and much more.

On 28 September, our Rome-based Competition partner Dr. Federico Marini Balestra will moderate the plenary session Antitrust Enforcement, Industrial Concentration and Political Power with two prominent economists Andrea Prat, Professor of Business and Economics, Columbia University and Luigi Zingales, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

View the event program 

More information and registration

Registration is free for companies and in-house counsel.

Others can receive a 20% Bird & Bird discount on the 3-Day pass by using the code LCF23TwoBirds when registering.

ERA Course

Cartel Enforcement in the EU: Advanced Competition law training

5 - 6 October 2023
Zagreb, Croatia

This training is addressed to staff of national competition authorities, lawyers in private practice and in-house counsel dealing with competition law cases from all around Europe.

The seminar aims to provide a thorough update for competition law practitioners on the recent trends and developments in EU cartel enforcement.

Competition partner Pauline Kuipers will lead the workshop exercise: Unannounced inspections in the digital age - main issues and practical challenges on October 6th.

More information and registration

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