Sanctioning proceedings against Schweppes SA

The CNMC (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, Spain's National Markets and Competition Commission) opens sanctioning proceedings against SCHWEPPES SA following the complaint filed by RED PARALELA SL.

As we reported in our previous post of 6 May 2015, we filed a complaint with the CNMC against SCHWEPPES SA because we believe this company unduly restricts parallel imports of Schweppes® branded products.

The CNMC has found "reasonable evidence of conduct prohibited by the Ley de Defensa de la Competencia (Spanish Competition Act) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union". This conduct allegedly consists of "signing agreements with independent beverage distributors in Spain". The CNMC adds that "the conduct under analysis originated from a complaint lodged with the CNMC, following which a confidential inquiry was opened to determine, on a preliminary basis, whether there were circumstances justifying the opening of sanctioning proceedings." (see the CNMC press release at this link)

For any further information, please contact our lawyer David Pellisé (www.pellise.es), a specialist in industrial property and competition law.