Practice Areas

Competition law, or rather competition laws, seek to protect fair competition between economic actors (protection of competition) as well as fair interactions between companies (protection of the competitor/commercial partner).

It is constantly and closely intertwined with the economic life of companies and professional associations, whatever their size or sector.

In this context, Prôreus guides you in all the following matters, both in an advisory role and at your side in litigation:

Antitrust Law (cartels and abuse of a dominant position)

  • Analysis and drafting of distribution agreements and other commercial partnership agreements
  • Analysis of research and development partnerships, technology transfer agreements, industrial cooperation, with regard to competition law
  • More generally, analysis of all agreements and company behaviours with regard to cartels, abuse of a dominant position, abuse of economic dependence
  • Proceedings before the French Competition Authority or the European Commission (opinions, litigation, procedures for leniency, settlements or undertakings, etc.)
  • competition litigation before French or European civil or commercial courts
  • Preparation and representation in competition inquiries brought by the French Competition Authority, the DGCCRF (French Directorate-General for Competition, Consumption and the Fight against Fraud) and/or the European Commission
  • Implementation of compliance programmes, competition audits, etc.


French Anti-Competitive Practices Law (commercial practices)
 

  • Economic law requirements related to commercial policies: regime of discounts and other benefits, whether price-related or not, commercial cooperation, resale at a loss, differentiating among customers, etc.
  • Legal management of commercial negotiations and their formalisation: référencement (buying goods from a supplier to be resold in buyer’s retail outlets under the buyer’s or seller’s brand name), general and special terms of sale, general terms of purchase, pre-contractual information, single conventions, resale price maintenance, etc.
  • Rules concerning the performance and control of commercial relations: payment periods, resale outside the network, invoicing, etc.
  • Litigation over commercial and industrial relations (especially in connection with litigation between contractors and sub-contractors): imbalance of rights and obligations of the parties, the obtaining of unfair advantages, termination of relationships, etc.


Merger Control
 

  • Analysis of external growth: qualification, likelihood of controls, assessment
  • Drafting, filing and implementation of notifications before the French Competition Authority or European Commission

 
State Aids and Economic Involvement of Public Entities and Authorities
 

  • Analysis of financial and economic involvement of public bodies, investments by public entities in industrial partnerships
  • Assistance in French or European litigation concerning State aid

 
Unfair Competition
 

  • Misleading commercial practices
  • Disparagement
  • Free riding, or parasitism
  • Disruption of the competing company, etc.

 Compliance

 

  • Development and establishment of competition compliance programmes
  • Competition audits