Written agreement
A fine of EUR 1,140,000 for 140 breaches of the obligation to conclude an annual written agreement before 1 March of the current year is not considered disproportionate.
TA Melun, 6 octobre 2023, No 2001822
Jurisdiction of specialized courts
Reversal of case law: the sanction for non-compliance with the rules governing the special jurisdiction of courts will now be a plea of lack of jurisdiction, rather than a plea of inadmissibility.
Cass. com., 18 October 2023, No 21-15.378
Civil sanctions
The unilateral termination of an affiliation agreement in compliance with the obligation to serve prior formal notice does not constitute a manifestly unlawful disturbance that would justify an injunction for the forced resumption of relations when this would have the effect of perpetuating the commission of the price squeezing practice that prompted the affiliate’s decision to terminate.
CA Paris, 12 October 2023, No 23/06230
Restriction by object
To examine whether a settlement agreement between originator and generic manufacturers can be classified as a restriction by object, account must be taken of the net gain of the transfers of value from the manufacturer of originator medicines in all transactions between the parties, and whether it is sufficiently large to act as an incentive for the generic manufacturer to refrain from entering the market concerned and consequently not to compete on its own merits with the manufacturer of originator medicines.
GC, Case T-74/21 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Judgment of 18 October 2023, LawLex202300012566JBJ
Settlement
Undertakings which have reached a settlement may contest increases applied under paragraphs 28 and 37 of the Guidelines on the method of setting fines, which were not included in their settlement submissions and which they had not accepted at the time of the administrative procedure.
GC, Case T-590/20 Clariant AG Judgment of 18 October 2023, LawLex202300012570JBJ
