Strategic Consultant
The Delhi High Court (DHC) in a suit filed by Haldiram India Pvt. Ltd. (Haldiram) seeking protection of it’s mark ‘HALDIRAM’, considering the long use of the mark since 1960s & the renowned reputation of the brand in the food industry, has granted it, the status of a ‘well-known’ trademark in terms of Section 2(1)(zg) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The DHC further extended this status to the Haldiram’s Oval-shaped mark in respect of food items, restaurants & eateries.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has issued interim directions to Delivery Hero SE (Delivery Hero) & Grab Holdings Inc. (Grab), in relation to the proposed acquisition of Southeast Asia’s business of Delivery Hero by Grab. Pending investigation of the proposed acquisition, CCCS to ensure contestability in the market for the supply of online food ordering & delivery services in Singapore (OFOD), has directed, inter alia, that both the parties must not take any action that would lead to possible integration of OFOD market in Singapore or materially impact the viability & saleability of Delivery Hero’s OFOD businesses in Singapore.
Liberty Media Corporation (Liberty) – owner of the motorsport business Formula One, on 01.04.2024, has announced an agreement to acquire majority stake in Dorna Sports, S.L. (Dorna) – exclusive commercial rights holder of the motorcycle racing world championship – MotoGP. If the deal is allowed to go through, Liberty will acquire 84% of Dorna, from Bridgepoint and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The European Commission (EC), after initiating an in-depth review of proposed acquisition of 41% shareholding in Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A. (ITA) by Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa) from Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), has sent statement of objections highlighting concerns regarding restriction in competition on “certain routes in the market for passenger air transport services in and out of Italy”. ITA – target, is a full service airline, solely owned by MEF and operates domestic & international flights from Italy, principally, from its hubs in Rome & Milan; whereas, Lufthansa – acquirer, is a global full-service carrier from Germany, operating from its principal hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna & Brussels. According to EC, owing to Lufthansa’s partnership with carriers in US, Canada & Japan, if the proposed acquisition is allowed, it can lead to higher prices & lower quality of services for passenger flying to & from Italy.
The French Competition Authority (Autorité de la concurrence/ALC) has cleared the proposed acquisition of Cobham Aerospace (Cobham) by Thales Group (Thales). The acquirer – Thales, operates in space, land transport and in particular in aeronautics & in avionics market; whereas, the target – Cobham develops & produces in-flight communication & connectivity products. Avionics are range of in-flight communications & navigation related electronic equipment located inside the aircraft’s cockpit, mainly an input for aircraft manufacturers like Boeing, Airbus etc. ALC noted that communication systems manufactured by Cobham are used as input for manufacturing of avionics suite by Thales; however, noting the limited number of overlapping markets with significant market shares, presence of competitors & countervailing buyer power of consumer, did not see likelihood of any harm to competition.
The Supreme Court (SC), while dealing with an appeal filed against the order of the Delhi High Court (DHC), through which the DHC upheld the order passed by the trial court and directed Bloomberg to remove the allegedly defamatory article against Zee Entertainment, has held that, the DHC erred by not prima facie assessing whether the three-fold test for grant of ex-parte ad interim injunction in cases stands established after perusal of the facts of the case. The SC, while setting aside DHC order, noted that the DHC failed to look into the facts on the basis of which injunction was sought by Zee Entertainment.
The Allahabad High Court (All. HC), while dealing with a reference order passed by a Single Judge regarding the vires of U.P. Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 (Madarsa Act) on the ground of being violative of Art.14, 21 & 21-A of the Constitution, has held that the scheme of the Madarsa Act appears to be only for the promotion & for imparting education of Islam & its philosophy and while, the State has the power to legislate laws viz. education at school level, such power cannot be exercised to create a Board for religious education. The All. HC noting that the Madrasa Act is not secular in its object, held it unconstitutional.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed acquisition of grey cement business of Kesoram Industries Ltd. (Kesoram) by UltraTech Cement Ltd. (UltraTech). The acquirer – UltraTech, is engaged in manufacturing & sale of grey & white cement, ready-mix concrete, clinker, & building products in India; whereas, the target – Kesoram, is a part of B.K. Birla group and is engaged in the business of rayon, transparent papers & chemicals in India & also manufactures grey cement. As per CCI, the proposed acquisition does not give rise to competition concerns in the “manufacture & sale of grey cement in Maharashtra and the southern region of India”.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has denied granting interim relief under Section 33 of the Competition Act, 2002 to Indian app developers, on the ground that the applicants (Indian app developers & industry associations) failed to demonstrate on how Google’s conduct can cause irreparable harm to the applicants which cannot be remedied through monetary compensation. The CCI relied on the Supreme Court’s judgment in SAIL case to note that higher degree of satisfaction than in prima facie view needs to be showcased for the grant of interim relief, which the applicants failed to satisfy.
The Autorité de la concurrence (ALC) has imposed a fine of €250 million on Google for failing to fulfil its commitments made by Google before ALC in relation to revenue sharing and balanced negotiations between press agencies, publishers and digital platforms. In specific, as per ALC, Google failed to – negotiate in good faith with new publishers, provide information through which news publisher/agencies can transparently assess their remuneration for copyrights. Further, it was also found that, Google’s AI service – Bard, used content from these news publishers/agencies to train its foundation model.
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Having got one of the global automobiles giants imposed with a fine of Rs. 87 crores amongst other instances, our grip on this sector is complete. KK Sharma Law Offices ('Firm') has dealt with the procurement of services of Car Carrier Trucks by market leader in automobile sector in India and brought the anti-competitive practices to the fore.
The very first investigation in the country into competition law violations was made which resulted in a cascading effect of company after company giving up the claims of loan foreclosure charges in home and car loans across the country, amongst others, were under taken.
When the allegations of cartel were brought before the enforcement machinery against the flexible conveyor belt manufacturers they were clear in their mind that only KKSLO can deal it successfully and, accordingly, they availed our services.
The very first successful instance of cartelisation dealt by the competition agency in the case of Ficci Multiplex Association was very successfully dealt with by the competition agency under the overall supervision of Mr. Sharma.
The very first penalty on the leading stock exchange of the country exceeding Rs.50 Crores was based on the investigation done by the Mr. Sharma. Subsequently, when there were allegations of future trading and guar gum and other similar commodities, for saving the enterprises from huge fines, the Firm was the natural choice for representing these companies.
It may not be that well known no manufactured vehicle can leave the premises of the manufacturer except without being loaded on to the car carrier trucks. When the instances of anti competitive practices came to the fore, the Firm was the first choice to taken services from.
