On July 9, 2021, the European Commission published its long-awaited draft of the revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and Vertical Guidelines. The significant changes proposed by the Commission take into account the specific challenges brought about by the growth of e-commerce and online platforms in the “digital age.” The Commission has also taken this
On July 9, the European Commission (EC) fined the Japanese company Sanrio – which holds and licenses various popular brands, including Hello Kitty, Chococat and the Mr. Men characters – € 6.2 million for licensing practices that restricted online and cross-border sales of merchandise. In late June it also published the full text of its
For twenty years or more, the European Commission (EC) has taken little or no formal enforcement action against anticompetitive distribution practices. However, the recent fines on Nike, Guess and others mark a dramatic change of policy. In the latter half of 2018, the EC imposed fines totalling over €150 million in relation to online distribution
On March 25, the European Commission (EC) fined Nike €12.5 million for restricting cross-border and online sales of branded merchandise by its European licensees. In December last year, the EC fined Guess €40 million for imposing restrictions on the use of its brand by distributors online. In total in 2018, the EC imposed fines of