Over the past decade EU competition law has changed fundamentally, moving from a form based approach to complex factual and economic analyses with fewer pre-defined boxes. The result is more flexibility to those that are able to ‘read’ the trends and distinguish formal from real exposure. This is one of Covington’s strengths. Our team has extensive experience in dealing with complex investigations, including abuse of dominance investigations. We have the analytical skills, experience and insights that enable clients to navigate this complex and multifaceted environment safely and effectively. Members of our team have extensive experience from European institutions. We know how the European Commission thinks and operates. This puts us in a unique position to develop effective strategies and solutions to avoid exposure and effectively counter exposure once it has materialised.
We help clients develop pro-active strategies that in past cases have resulted in investigations being terminated or steered towards a mutually acceptable settlement. We are able to quickly grasp large and complex files, identify threats and opportunities and develop effective legal, economic, factual and policy arguments. Some advisors are wary of engaging actively with regulators. We are not. We believe that it is often beneficial to establish a pro-active dialogue with regulators early on to clarify issues and deploy the best counter-arguments. We also assist clients in challenging anti-competitive behaviour, applying the same strategic approach. We help clients assess the benefits of a challenge and the prospects of success. We further assist in choosing the forum that is the most effective in terms of delivering action and results. We draw on the experience and skills of Covington lawyers across all our offices, delivering highly valued and efficient advice. The firm’s strong collegial culture makes client service a seamless experience.
Representative Matters
We have represented and represent clients in matters involving a range of abuse of dominance and complex cooperation issues. We have extensive experience in analysing refusals to deal under the essential facility doctrine and margin squeeze in regulated sectors. We are closely involved in a range of matters involving input and customer foreclosure issues resulting from (long-term) contracting with suppliers and buyers. For instance, we currently represent Czech energy company ČEZ in a Commission investigation involving alleged hoarding of grid capacity. Covington lawyers also represented Microsoft in the Commission’s Internet Explorer investigation which involved contractual and technical tying and Qualcomm in the Commission’s investigation of alleged excessive pricing and other exploitative abuses which was closed following an in-depth investigation.
In addition, we are currently advising Microsoft, Expedia and TripAdvisor in connection with their complaints regarding abusive search-related conduct of Google, National Instruments in connection with its complaint regarding MathWorks refusal to license, and Microsoft and Huawei in connection with their complaints regarding the refusal by Motorola Mobility and InterDigital, respectively, to license standards essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
We also have extensive experience in dealing with conditional rebates, one of the most complex areas of EU competition law where clients are forced to navigate the old form based approach established in case law and the Commission’s more recent effects-based analysis.
Illustrative List of Clients
- AstraZeneca
- ČEZ
- Microsoft
- Qualcomm
- Slovak Telecom
- National Instruments
- Huawei
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