Every year, the LIDC organises an international Congress to study in particular two questions related to competition law, intellectual property law and/or unfair competition.

The LIDC further organises Webinars on competition law, intellectual property and unfair competition issues of relevance and interest for its members. Working groups are constituted to study in-depth certain legal developments.

LIDC Annual Congress

Every year, the LIDC organises an international Congress to study in particular two questions related to competition law, intellectual property law and/or unfair competition.

The annual Congress is generally organised by a National Group of the LIDC.

NEXT CONGRESS -GOTHENBURG – SEPTEMBER 2023

We are pleased to announce that the next LIDC Congress will be held in Gothenburg (Sweden) on 21-24 September 2023.

Gothenburg Congress on 21-24 September 2023 – Question A and B – Flyer

The questions that will be discussed are the followings:

Question A

Do recent developments in enforcement, case-law, and guidance from competition authorities and regulators make the delineation between legitimate and efficient purchasing and supply arrangements and infringing conduct sufficiently clear in practice that businesses and their advisors know how to stay on the right side of the law?

Background/Context: 

We are seeing consumer prices rising at pace globally, central banks have increased rates, and events such as the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and Brexit continue to stress supply chains. 

Against this backdrop, it is important that companies are able to distinguish clearly between legitimate and efficient conduct and infringements of the applicable rules and to assess the impact on their commercial relationships.

In addition to focusing on sellers and the conditions on which they sell their products or services to buyers, buyers’ conduct in their interactions with suppliers and markets when purchasing goods and services has recently come under increased scrutiny from competition law, enforcement and guidance (e.g. the Horizontal Guidelines).  

From co-ordinated conduct by buyers, such as joint purchasing/buying alliances (e.g. rules for purchasing alliances in the food retail sector in France), buyers’ cartels and purchase price fixing (e.g. the Ethylene and Car Battery Recycling cases), to unilateral conduct by buyers that hold substantial purchasing power. As regards the latter, new rules and cases (e.g. in Belgium) have considered the “abuse of economic dependence”, which targets situations where a company abuses the relative economic dependence of another company (supplier or customer).

Different jurisdictions have taken a range of approaches, which have evolved and changed over time. What is the current situation in these jurisdictions and what are the LIDC National Chapters’ and members’ respective experiences – is the line between legitimate and infringing conduct sufficiently clear or is further guidance from authorities and courts required?

***

Question B

What mechanisms exist to avoid over-broad trademarks and address concerns that the trademark registers are clogged (e.g. bad faith in Sky v SkyKick; requirements for evidence of use), and are these mechanisms effective?

Background/Context: 

Trademark owners understandably want to protect as widely as possible around their brand. However, this can lead to cluttered trademark registers which increase the cost (deadweight loss) of launching a new brand, and may restrict dynamic competition particularly from smaller players.

Different jurisdictions have taken a range of approaches, which have evolved and changed over time: from requirements of use (and/or evidence of use) to potential revocation for non-use; from requirements of filing by class and limiting scope within class to requirements that filings are not made in bad faith. For example, bad faith has been an issue in recent cases (from Hasbro through Sky v SkyKick which still pending in the English courts).

What are the LIDC National Chapters’ and members’ respective experiences in the effectiveness of these mechanisms, or other rules and practices, in seeking to allow the ‘right’ scope of protection?

Past Congresses

The past LIDC Congress was held in Milano on October 20-23 2022. More info here: https://www.ligue.org/congress/2022/

Julian Nowag (Julian Nowag — Lund University) agreed to be the International Rapporteur for the Competition Question and Christopher de Mauny (Bird & Bird – Chris de Mauny (twobirds.com)) agreed to be the International Rapporteur for the IP Question.

The questions that were discussed are the followings:

COMPETITION QUESTION – What role could/should sustainability goals play in competition policy and enforcement and how are competition authorities addressing this?

The national rapporteurs were :

Austria	Univ.-Ass. Mag. Adrian Kubat and Univ.-Ass. Mag. Adnan Tokić, both University of Vienna
Belgium	Prof. Dr. Jan Blockx (University of Antwerp)
Brazil	José Mauro Decoussau Machado from Pinheiro Neto Advogados
Czech Republic	Ms. Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, Ph.D., LL.Mm, M.B.A.
France	Michael Cousin Lauren Mechri Alexandre Marescaux Nizar Lajnef Mathilde Boudou
Germany	Prof. Dr. Eckart Bueren, Dipl.-Volksw.
Italy	Avv. Elisa Teti – Studio Legale Ruccelai & Raffaelli
Malta	Clement Mifsud-Bonnici
UK	Nicole Kar (Linklaters – partner)   Simon Holmes (Competition Appeal Tribunal – member)   Lucinda Cunningham (Competition Appeal Tribunal – referendaire):
Hungary	András Horváth, LL.M. Ph.D. (Baker McKenzie)
Switzerland	Alexandra Telychko   Johana Cau

IP QUESTION – ‘Green IP’: What is the role of intellectual property in sustainability?

The national rapporteurs were :

Austria	Dr. Georg Kresbach, head of the IP & TMT team at WOLF THEISS
Brazil	Lucas Bernardo Antoniazzi from Di Blasi, Parente & Associados
Germany	Thomas Hoeren
Hungary	Ádám Liber (Provaris)   Bálint Halász (Bird&Bird)
Italy	Avv. Marina Cristofori – Studio Legale Jacobacci & Associati
Malta	Philip Mifsud
Nordic Group	Martin Zeitlin
UK	Ben Hitchens (CMS Cameron McKenna – partner)   Caitlin Heard (CMS Cameron McKenna – partner)   Joel Vertes (CMS Cameron McKenna – partner)
Swizterland	Eugenia Huguenin-Elie

All the reports can be found here (only for logged-in members): https://www.ligue.org/resources/search-in-all-documents/

Here you will find the Reflections and Conclusions from the Working Sessions on Questions A & B at the Milan 2022 Congress

Congresses Resolutions / Conclusions

LIDC resolutions adopted by the LIDC during the annual congress are available in the section Resources.

International and National Reports

LIDC international and National Reports adopted by the LIDC during the annual congress are available in the section Resources.

Photo Gallery

LIDC Webinars

Since 2018, the LIDC organises regularly lunchtime webinars on competition law and intellectual property hot topics. In the LIDC spirit, these webinars offer a comparative law approach to members.

The webinars are organised by Michel Ponsard and Nathalie Lobell Lastmann (Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General of the LIDC) and held jointly with the English and French Competition law association.

Next Webinars

The LIDC will be holding a joint lunchtime webinar with the CLA on Thursday 15 June 2023 at 1:00 pm (CET) / midday (UK) on : “Interim Measures in Competition Law Cases: status, recent developments and areas for improvement – Part II”

Pascale Déschamps (French Competition Authority) and Alessandro Sia (Swiss Competition Commission) have kindly agreed to speak on the subject of Interim Measures in Competition Law Cases and will discuss the status, recent developments and areas for improvement.

The session will be moderated by Carmen Verdonck (ALTIUS – Belgium).

To register for this event follow this link: https://www.ligue.org/events/lidc-webinar-interim-measures-in-competition-law-cases-status-recent-developments-and-areas-for-improvement-part-i/

Past Webinars

LIDC Webinars 2023:

• 20 April on “Green Claims as an Unfair Commercial Practice” ;
• 11 May on “Interim measures in competition law cases- status, recent developments and areas for improvement – Part I” ;
• 27 January 2023 on : “THE IMPACT OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE ON THE ENERGY MARKET AND THE ENERGY REGULATION”.

LIDC Webinars 2022

The LIDC organised various webinars during 2022: 

• 1 December 2022 on :“Exclusive dealing after Intel, Qualcomm and Google (Android) – a farewell to formalistic analysis?”
• 7 September 2022 on: “Digital Influencers and Online Advertising: regulatory landscape and issues” ;
• 8 March 2022 on: “What are the perspectives for the future of the Automotive Sector”;
• 19 July 2022 – on “Joint Purchasing and Buyer Cartels: a distinction without a difference?”

LIDC Webinars 2021

The LIDC organised various webinars during 2021: 

• 18 March at 1pm CET – “superior bargaining power/abuse of economic dependence”;
• 29 April at 2pm CET – “data protection in distribution”;
• On Thursday 11 February 2021, the LIDC hold a webinar on “Green Pact: New approach on competition and environment”.
• On 14 January 2021, the LIDC hold a webinar on “Protection of Brand Reputation”.

LIDC Webinars 2020

• Thursday 10 December 2020 – “Antitrust enforcement in relation to online sales”.

National competition authorities from around the world discussed their recent experience of applying antitrust laws to online sales.

• 15 October – “European Commission reform of the rules on verticals”;
• 12 November 2020 – “Protection of trade secrets/know-how in distribution relationships”;
• 30 April 2020 – “State Aid and Coronavirus– the UK and EU Perspective”.

LIDC Webinars 2019

• 5 November 2019 – “Excessive Pricing Cases in the UK and Italy”;
• 29 January 2019 – “E-Commerce/Geo-blocking in UK, France and Switzerland”;

LIDC Webinars 2018

• 23 November 2018 and 8 February 2019 – “Merger Control Regulation Hot Topics”.

Webinar recordings and webinars flyers are available in the section Resources.

Webinar Series

Since October 2020, the LIDC organise a series of webinars on verticals particularly related with the reform of the Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (VBER).

The Webinars of the series held so far are the following:

• 15 October 2020 – “European Commission reform of the rules on verticals”;
• 12 November 2020 – “How to protect trade-secrets, know-how and other valuable information in distribution relationships”;
• 10 December 2020 – “Antitrust enforcement in relation to online sales”.
• 22 June 2022 – “THE REFORM OF THE RULES ON VERTICAL AGREEMENTS – WHAT’S NEW?”

LIDC Working Groups

LIDC members have always worked together in “transnational working groups” on relevant and current topics of interest.

The working groups provide a forum for informal discussions among members, and serve as an invaluable source of information and ideas based on a comparative method.

Members of the LIDC national groups and individual members of the LIDC are invited to join the following groups by simply sending an email to the LIDC Secretariat.

• Data Regulation & Digital Economy. The focus and other information about the group can be found below.
• Distribution, Franchising & eCommerce. The focus and other information about the group can be found below.
• State Aids.
• Unfair Competition. The focus and other information about the group can be found below.
• Copyright.

Jacques Lassier Price

To honour the memory of one of its former chairmen, Jacques LASSIER, Lawyer at the Bar of Paris, the LIDC has organised a competition to encourage written work on the subject of competition law.

The Jacques Lassier prize has lastly been awarded during the Congress that was held in Paris in 2019.

You will find here the Rules 2019 in English and in French.

Jacques Lassier Laureates since 1982

• 2019

Godefroy de Moncuit (France)
Faute lucrative et droit de la concurrence

• 2015

Nikolas Guggenberger (Germany)
Netzneutralität : Leitbilder und Missbrauchsaufsicht

Jan-Christoph Rudowicz (Germany)
Gun-Jumping under the EC Merger Regulation

Special Mention awarded to Benjamin Lehaire (France)
L’action privée en droit des pratiques anticoncurrentielles : pour un recours effectif des entreprises et des consommateurs en droit français et canadien

• 2013

Eckart Bueren (Germany)
Settlements in cartel cases
An examination of the European Commission’s settlement procedure with a comparative study and a law and economics analysis

• 2011

Jérôme Gtalter (France)
Le droit de la concurrence appliqué aux droits de propriété intellectuelle-Réflexions sur les nouveaux monopoles de la société de l’information.

Pablo Ibanez Colomo, (Spain)
European Communications Law and Technological Convergence. Deregulation, Re-regulation and Regulatory Convergence in Televison and Telecommunications.

• 2008

Nicolas Petit (Belgique/France)
Oligopoles, collusion tacite et droit communautaire de la concurrence.

• 2006

Laetitia Driguez (France)
Le droit social et le droit de la concurrence

David Bosco (France)
Le contrat exclusif

• 2002

Raphaël Arn (Suisse)
La publicité choquante – Vers une nouvelle dimension du droit de la concurrence déloyale

• 1998

Friedrich Ruffler (Autriche)
Der Einfluss des Europarchets auf das Österreichische UWG

• 1994

Daniel Fasquelle (France)
Droit américain et droit communautaires de ententes

• 1990

Dominique Graz (Suisse)
Propriété intellectuelle et libre circulation des marchandises

• 1986

Louis Vogel (France)
Concentration économique et système de droit de la concurrence

• 1982

Ludwig Linder (Allemagne)
Privatklage aund Schadensersatz in Kartell

LIDC ad-Hoc Groups

The General Reporter and the deputy General Reporter may, when agreed by the President, set up ex officio an ad hoc Committee entrusted with studying and taking a formal position, on behalf of the League, on particular questions or evolutions of competition law or commercial practices. They are responsible for appointing the president of such Committee.

Any member of the League, who has made sure that at least two members from other groups will participate, may request the setting up of an ad hoc Committee. To this end, the member should send a draft proposal of the subject to the General Reporter. This member will become the president of the ad hoc Committee.

As soon as an ad hoc Committee has been instituted, the presidents of the national groups shall appoint one or two members of their group, representing the interests concerned, who will participate in the Committee’s works.

Information about the setting-up of an ad hoc Committee and progress of its work shall be given as soon as possible on the website of the League, where the final report of the Committee will also be published.

Any proposal of adoption of a position on behalf of the League shall be submitted, before it is published or advertised, for the approval of the President and the General Reporter, who will check that it is representative and, in case of conflicting views, make sure that all important opinions are expressed.

The President and the General Reporter shall decide upon the communication of the results of the ad hoc Committees’ work out from the League.

The ad Hoc Committees, created so far, drafted the following documents:

• LIDC consultation on the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation;
• Remarks of the LIDC concerning the Draft of European Commission Regulation on Vertical Agreements;
• Comments on the Commission’s Green Paper on damages actions for breach of EC antitrust rules.

Other LIDC events

You will find in this page information of other events organised by the LIDC.

Register to the next LIDC events

In this page it would be possible for you to register for the next LIDC events.