Competition and Markets Authority alleges online resale price maintenance The CMA has issued statements of objections to unrelated bathroom fittings and commercial refrigeration parts suppliers. It alleges that each illegally imposed a minimum advertised price for online sales. Barney Sich reports.
Deuter Sport GmbH sought to stop its distributors selling Deuter products on online marketplaces such as Amazon and, unless Deuter consented in each case, on price comparison platforms. Were these controls sustainable under EU competition law? Tobias Rothkegel reports.
Bad faith, passing off and trade mark infringement were just some of the allegations bandied around in a dispute over who was entitled to operate a pizza restaurant under the name Caspian. Varuni Paranavitane reports.
The IPO was not impressed by a confusingly named trader sending renewal notices to trade mark and patent owners, demanding more than the IPO’s standard fees. It sued, alleging passing off and trade mark infringement. Varuni Paranavitane reports.
The Government has reported on whether brand owners should be able to take direct action against lookalike products under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Has this pleased anti lookalike lobbyist the British Brands Group? Barney Sich reports.
Champagne producer Louis Roederer registered CRISTAL as a trade mark. It unsuccessfully opposed UK registration of CRISTALINO JAUME SERRA by sparkling wine maker J Garcia Carrion SA. Could it still stop importation of CRISTALINO into the UK? Varuna Paranavitane reports.
“Only one entry per person” said one part of the rules for a joint Harrods/Condé Nast “Put the Harrods Green Man on the map” prize promotion. But another part allowed multiple entries. Which was right? Cue complaints to the ASA. Jude King reports.
Northern Ireland radio station U105 regularly runs a “Winning Weekend” competition. A Saturday competition winner also won the next day, but was told multiple winners were not allowed. Chloe Deng reports on the ensuing Ofcom investigation.
Recently there have been two changes to laws impacting French prize draws and competitions. Will they make life easier for marketers looking to run compliant promotions in France? Claire Bouchenard reports from Osborne Clarke Paris
After research into a range of supermarket pricing practices, the consumer body “Which?” has lodged a “super complaint” with the Competition and Markets Authority concerning “misleading and opaque” pricing practices in the grocery market. Claire Temple reports.
After 4 years helping MI design and manufacture endoscopy devices, Mr Eakins left and signed a confidentiality agreement, but still accessed MI’s customer and distributor databases and allegedly used these in a competing venture. Abby Minns reports on the litigation.
