European Court of Justice annuls antitrust fines due to a breach of essential procedural requirements

By Till Patrik Holterhus, MLE. 

On October 25th, 2011 the European Court of Justice annulled antitrust fines that were imposed on the company Solvay by the European Commission in the year 2000 (and approved by European Court of First Instance in 2009) due to a breach of the right of access to the file.

Is Google “Cooking” it? (Article)

By Arusyak Abrahamyan

It was not long ago when Google was under the spotlight for Google Books Settlement. Now it looks like the lawsuits are piling up on Google. There are about 9 antitrust cases filed against the mega-search engine in the EU, one of which was filed by Microsoft against Google for dominating the search market as well as other areas such as the mobile-related realm. A number of small companies have also filed complaints against Google here in the US. The Department of Justice (DOJ) will review Google’s $400 million purchase of Admeld Inc., an Internet advertising company, to investigate whether the deal had an adverse effect on competition. Furthermore, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is conducting an antitrust investigation of Google’s dominance in the search-engine industry.

Scott Hammond - United States perspective on cartel enforcement

By Till Patrik Holterhus, MLE.

Antitrust investigation of Google in South Korea

By Seunghyuck Han 

Google’s behavior has come under increased competition law scrutiny not only in the US and EU, but also in South Korea. The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), the Korean antitrust authority, stormed Google's Seoul offices in September 2011 amid claims that the company unfairly stifles competition by making its search engine the default option on Android handsets.

No objections from Brussels - European Commission approves Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype

By Till Patrik Holterhus, MLE.

On October 7th, 2011 the European Commission cleared Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype, saying that the deal would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part thereof.