The French Competition Authority – Autorité de la concurrence (ALC), has imposed a fine of €91,600,000 on Rolex France SAS (Rolex) for engaging in an anti-competitive vertical agreement, with its authorised retailers, by prohibiting them from selling Rolex watches online for more than ten years. According to the ALC, the defence provided by Rolex that the measure has been undertaken by them to combat counterfeiting and parallel trade, was insufficient considering that Rolex’s competitor facing similar risks authorise online selling of their products.
