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Court ruling confirms that online sales restrictions can amount to a serious infringement of competition law.

By John D. Colahan and Anuj Ghai

On 21 January 2020, the UK’s Court of Appeal ruled that the online sales restrictions contained in Ping’s internet sales policy (ISP) constituted a restriction of competition by object. The Court of Appeal dismissed Ping’s appeal against a judgment of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) that upheld the CMA’s decision that Ping’s online sales ban constituted a restriction of competition by object under Article 101 of the TFEU and therefore under the Chapter I prohibition of the Competition Act 1998, which is itself modelled on Article 101.

The CAT’s Royal Mail v. Ofcom judgment considers what constitutes abusive conduct, the “as-efficient competitor” test, and the use of expert economic advice.

By David Little, Gregory Bonné, Alexandra Luchian, and Nathan Wilkins

On 12 November 2019, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (the CAT) published its judgment rejecting Royal Mail’s appeal against a £50 million fine imposed by the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom), the UK communications and postal services regulator, for abuse of a dominant position in bulk mail delivery following a complaint from Whistl.

This post focuses on three areas of the CAT’s judgment: (1) the distinction between abusive conduct and mere preparatory acts; (2) the relevance of the “as-efficient competitor” test when assessing exclusionary conduct by dominant companies; and (3) the treatment and protection of expert economic advice.