Selective online distribution: the Amazon.it case.
1. Selective distribution: the regulatory and jurisprudential context.
Starting from the assumption that the aim of every manufacturer is to maximise its profit, there are cases in which this objective can only be achieved by limiting access to the official sales network to distributors and resellers who meet particular requirements, so as to protect the image of the manufacturer...
Selective and exclusive distribution: does the mixed system work?
What happens if a manufacturer applies a mixed system (selective and exclusive distribution) within Europe? What are the main advantages and disadvantages?
As already noted, the European legislator has always been
committed to balancing the principle of free trade of goods
goods and the interest of producers in creating competitive distribution networks.
competitive....
Selective distribution. A brief overview: risks and benefits.
Certain products, depending on their intrinsic characteristics (e.g. the luxury sector, i.e. technically very complex products), often require a more select and careful resale system than consumer products.
In such cases, the manufacturer is inclined, not so much to focus on the vastness and capillarity of its sales network, but rather to...
Information exchange and dual distribution: antitrust implications in distribution contracts
Nel contesto dei rapporti di distribuzione, emergono problematiche antitrust ogni volta che il concedente svolge attività che, anche solo potenzialmente, entrano in concorrenza con il concessionario. Questa situazione, definita dal regolamento (UE) 2022/720 come “duplice distribuzione”, solleva questioni giuridiche particolarmente delicate in merito alla legittimità delle informazioni scambiate…
Competition and online trade: navigating dual distribution and hybrid intermediaries in antitrust law
Dual distribution' and 'hybrid intermediaries' emerge as salient concepts in the context of vertical agreements and antitrust law.
Dual distribution occurs when an entity chooses to market its products both directly and through external distributors, thereby creating a situation of even potential competition with the latter. Such...
Parallel sales and the principle of brand exhaustion.
Can unauthorised distributors make parallel sales? When can one make use of the principle of brand exhaustion? The Amazon, Sisley and L'Oréal cases.
As
has already been explained (see The
selective distribution. A brief overview: risks and advantages), selective
selective distribution has the function of protecting the marketing of
products that, in...
Parallel Sales in the EU. When and to what extent can a manufacturer control them?
When we speak of parallel sales, we are referring to imports that take place alongside those made by an 'official', i.e. territorially competent, importer: parallel traders enter the market reserved for exclusive distributors, without having direct access to the supplier, who only supplies authorised dealers.
Parallel trade,...
Can a manufacturer prevent its distributors from selling online?
When is it possible to block the online sales of distributors or members of one's own sales network? Active sales, passive sales, geoblocking... Let's have some clarity!
E-commerce is undoubtedly a tool that has extraordinary potential: it allows you to address a very wide range of users, to target offers with great precision at categories of customers, and to...
Exclusivity clauses and vertical economic agreements in the European context: e-commerce and territorial exclusivity
Territorial exclusivity clauses, constituting a pactual limitation on free competition, are subject, in addition to Italian law, to the strict European rules on the subject.
In particular, Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) establishes a general prohibition concerning all agreements and concerted practices of undertakings 'which may...
Termination of the sales concession contract and inventory management: rights and obligations of the parties.
Sales dealership agreements often contain an agreement on how to deal with the stock of goods purchased by the dealer during the term of the agreement; this regulation may take the form of an option for the franchisor to repurchase the goods at a certain price, or the former dealer may distribute these goods.
Other times the parties...