Focus Antitrust - 1 October 2014

IN THE NEWS

CAT quashes OFT's decision to accept binding commitments in hotel online booking case

The CAT has delivered its judgment on Skyscanner Limited's appeal, challenging the OFT's decision to accept binding commitments that addressed competition concerns regarding online offering of room-only hotel accommodation bookings by online travel agents. Although the CAT dismissed claims that in accepting the commitments the OFT had acted ultra vires and contrary to the policy of the Competition Act, it did find that the OFT had failed to consider adequately Skyscanner's objections to the proposed commitments. In failing to investigate a plausible point, the CAT considered that the OFT had acted unfairly and unreasonably. Accordingly, the process by which the OFT thereafter reached its decision was procedurally improper. The CAT has therefore annulled the OFT's decision and remitted the case back to the CMA. Click here.

EU

Articles 101 and 102

Details of Toshiba Corporation's appeal against a General Court judgment dismissing Toshiba's action to challenge the European Commission's decision on the power transformers cartel have been published in the Official Journal. Toshiba claims that the General Court wrongly considered that the Japanese manufacturers of power transformers were potential competitors on the EEA market, distorted evidence and wrongly interpreted the Fining Guidelines. Click here. A summary of the European Commission's March 2014 decision finding that two power exchanges (EPEX Spot and Nord Pool Spot AS) had breached Article 101 TFEU has been published in the Official Journal, along with the Opinion of the Advisory Committee and the Final Report of the Hearing. Click here, here and here. UK

CAT

The CAT has published a Practice Direction on Commencement of Damages Claims, which sets out particular matters that the claim form must contain if a person outside the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom is named as a...