Our EU competition team has extensive experience advising clients on all of their vertical arrangements, including distribution, licensing, supply, agency, and franchising agreements, and regularly works with clients to design, operate, and defend their pan-European commercialization networks. Further, our deep regulatory expertise enables us to advise clients in highly-regulated industries without having to reinvent the wheel.
Our competition team provides advice on international, EU and national legal issues, offering our clients a “one-stop shop” for legal advice on the commercialization of their products. Reflecting the diversity of our clients and their legal needs, our lawyers are qualified to practice in various EU Member States and work in close cooperation with our other EU and US offices. Collectively, the languages spoken encompass most of the languages of the European Union.
This comprehensive and multi-jurisdictional approach enables us to quickly assimilate our clients’ commercial goals and to develop creative, efficient and cost-effective solutions tailored to our clients’ needs. Our clients include major multinational companies in a broad range of sectors, such as the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical devices, fashion, cosmetics, automotive, consumer electronics, software, construction and IT and technology sectors.
Representative Matters
- Distribution - We have significant experience advising clients on all aspects of their European commercialization networks, including the design and operation of exclusive and selective distribution systems, pricing/rebates, sales and rental channels, supply chain management, customer loyalty programs, dealer financing, central warehousing, consumer warranties, dealer termination, etc.
- Trademark Licensing - For clients seeking to exploit their trademarks in Europe, without the significant investment necessary to establish a distribution, franchise or agency network, a trademark license is often the best option. We have significant experience advising companies on the commercial and competition law issues arising in trademark licenses agreements.
- Pan-European Licensing of Copyrighted Content - New technologies and recent judgments by the EU Courts have significantly altered the framework for licensing protected content, such as games, TV programs, ebooks, etc. We have significant experience working with clients to identify effective strategies in the present, uncertain legal environment regarding broadcasting and online distribution.
- Technology Licensing - We have significant experience navigating the complex competition law rules applicable to technology licensing agreements in order to provide our clients with practical advice compatible with their commercial goals. While each transaction raises its own issues, we typically advise on threshold issues, such as whether the parties are competitors and can do the deal, as well as issues related to specific provisions of the agreement, such as territorial and customer restrictions, field of use restrictions, grant-backs, non-competes, restrictions on resale, assignment or licensing and the like.
- Supply - Joint production, exclusive supply, subcontracting and other supply arrangements often raise difficult competition law issues that conflict with clients’ commercial goals. Our competition law team has extensive experience working through these issues with our clients to ensure that they can rely on the enforceability of essential provisions in their supply agreements.
- Agency - We have deep experience in advising clients on setting up a network of agents, drafting agency agreements and assisting clients on all related issues, such as termination and commission payments.
- Franchising - We have advised companies in a wide range of sectors on the operation of the applicable franchise laws, including disclosure and registration requirements.
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