Noerr Competition Day 2014

22.05.2014

Current cartel law developments were the focus of “Competition Day 2014” of the law firm Noerr. Under the title “Brennpunkt Kartellrecht” more than 100 experts from home and abroad – including delegates from authorities and company representatives - discussed current opportunities and risks for business.

Selective online selling under observation by the cartel authorities

Cartel law in Internet selling was a central issue in the conference. At present, selective selling of branded products over the Internet is approaching its cartel law limits. Manufacturers and online traders are closely watching the Federal Cartel Office’s pilot proceedings against the sports goods manufacturers Adidas and ASICS. “The legitimate interest of the manufacturer in securing its brand image in online trading too by imposing high quality requirements on its sales partners conflicts with the inherent control mover the sales channels“, emphasised Prof. Dr. Karsten Metzlaff. The  Noerr cartel law expert participated on a panel together with Eberhard Temme, chairman of the Decision Department of the Federal Cartel Office responsible for Internet sales, Dr. Andreas Gayk, head of sales policy Markenverband, Dr. Wolfgang Nothhelfer of the British competition authority CMA and Dr. Fabian Badtke, Noerr.

Internal investigations and eDiscovery

Internal investigations were another central issue addressed by Dr. Malte Abel, head of cartel and competition law RWE AG and Alexander Israel, Noerr. A panel then discussed inspection of electronic documents in the context of cartel law. The various issues arising in that context were discussed by Michael Becker, Managing Director Consilio – Global eDiscovery Specialists, Dr. Dirk Middelschulte, head of cartel law – consultancy/compliance, Deutsche Bahn AG, Dr. Daniel Rücker, Noerr expert for IT and data protection law and Hanno Schaper, Noerr cartel law expert.

Private cartel law enforcement

Dr. Alexander Birnstiel opened the final session with a lecture on the current status and content of the Antitrust Damages Directive. In the subsequent panel discussion with Dr. Olaf Christiansen, Senior Vice President, Bertelsmann AG, Julia Dietrich, Manager at Frontier Economics, Dr. Till Schreiber, Director at Cartel Damage Claims and the Noerr cartel lawyers Helge Heinrich and Dr. Kathrin Westermann, making and defending antitrust damages claims and the effects of the directive were the issues.

PR team


Antitrust & Competition

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