Legal & Institutional – Page 10
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Alpine ski resorts under siege
Austria’s ski resorts were reopened on Dec. 24 as planned, and videos showed that they welcomed plenty of local tourists, as hotels and restaurants have remained closed. A further restriction came from the government’s decision to ban non-essential retailing, including the sale of skis and other sports products, at physical ...
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Many seek to ‘Make Amazon Pay’
Some 401 parliamentarians and public officials – among them Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the U.K.’s Labour Party; Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former minister of finance; and Ilhan Omar and Rachida Tlaib, two members of the so-called “Squad” in the U.S. House of Representatives – have signed an open letter to ...
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ArticleItaly and Andorra close their ski facilities for the holidays
Governmental guidelines for the closure of ski facilities to prevent Covid-19 infections continue to go in different directions in Europe. On Dec. 3, the government of Andorra said that its facilities will remain closed until the beginning of January and that the exact date of their re-opening may vary depending ...
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Nike and others lobby against Xinjiang labor bill in U.S.
According to the New York Times, Nike – along with Apple, Coca-Cola and other large companies – has been lobbying the U.S. Congress to soften some of the provisions of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which is not yet the law of the land but has been passed in ...
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ArticleEU estimates that Amazon broke competition rules
The European Commission believes that Amazon violated competition rules by unfairly benefiting from non-public data on independent sellers who use its marketplace, it said in its preliminary findings from an antitrust investigation it has been conducting against the American e-commerce giant since last year. The European Union’s executive body added ...
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New Amazon probe by the German Cartel Office
The German Cartel Office has reportedly opened yet another investigation into the practices of Amazon, this time looking into complaints that the giant e-tailer has entered into exclusive agreements with certain suppliers that prevent other retailers from selling certain branded products. As an example of this behavior, the German anti-trust ...
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WTO report examines IP in light of Covid
The Covid-19 pandemic has led national and regional intellectual property (IP) offices to expedite certain procedures relating to the use of patented devices and copyrighted materials. The Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has published a paper sketching the background of its fundamental IP deal – the WTO Agreement ...
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ArticleCalls for online marketplaces to proactively prevent the sale of fakes
The European Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (Fesi) is urging the operators of internet platforms to undertake “due diligence obligations for preventive and proactive measures” to fight against the sale of illegal products online, while expressing strong support for the efforts being made by the European Commission to obtain ...
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Article
Icon sues Peloton
After a steady climb over the last six months, Peloton Interactive’s share price took a small hit on the stock exchange after the news yesterday that Icon Health & Fitness had filed a patent infringement suit against it in A federal court in Delaware. At $37.77 billion, Peloton’s market capitalization ...
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EU agrees on common rules for pandemic-related travel restrictions
The European Council has adopted a recommendation on a coordinated approach to travel restrictions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The council comprises the heads of state or government of the countries forming the European Union, as well as the president of the council and of the European Commission. ...
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Global talks on a digital tax prolonged to 2021
The 137 countries involved in talks on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) due to the digitalization of the economy have agreed to keep working toward an agreement on the taxation of digital companies by mid-2021, thus acknowledging that they will fail to strike a deal by the end of ...
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Google ready for new concessions to take over Fitbit
Google has agreed to allow other makers of wearables to easily connect to its Android platform and its application programming interface (API) as a new condition for the European Commission’s anti-trust body’s endorsement of its planned $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, according to Reuters. According to Bloomberg, it has also ...
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ArticleCall for a Covid-19 sports recovery fund in the U.K.
The Outdoor Industries Association (OIA) reports that leaders of more than a hundred sports and exercise institutions in the U.K. have sent a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to reserve funds for the rehabilitation of the sports and physical activity sector - or risk fueling lack of ...
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Importers may have to pay more to bring bicycles into Russia
Mandatory tagging of bicycles in Russia may oblige some importers to pay higher import duties, according to sources, normalizing the market in similar ways as the mandatory tagging program recently introduced for footwear. In Russia, bicycles are subject to a 10 percent import duty, but some importers of Chinese products ...
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The Norwegian retail merger can go through
The Norwegian Competition Authority has announced its endorsement of the proposed business combination between Gresvig, the Norwegian licensee of Intersport, and Sport 1 Gruppen. The two new partners are the largest sports retailers in the country after XXL Sport. As planned, they will form a new common entity, called Sport ...
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ArticleAmazon: The Janus-faced company
The current Covid19 crisis has accelerated Amazon’s consumer goods business exponentially. The Silicon Valley giant doubled its profits in the second quarter of this year and increased its turnover to nearly $89 billion. The share value has also nearly doubled since the middle of March. On Sept. 1, Amazon announced ...
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Article
Two prominent Adidas executives quit
Two prominent U.S.-based Adidas executives are leaving at the same time, but an official of the company says the two events are completely unrelated. Jon Wexler, a 20-year veteran of the company who has been leading its Yeezy business unit since last November as vice president and general manager, left ...
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ArticleNorwegian sports retail merger is challenged by the national anti-trust authority
Gresvig’s merger with the Sport 1 retail group, which was announced at the end of February, is being questioned by the Norwegian Competition Authority. The body has given the parties in the deal 15 days to respond to an official warning of a possible investigation, indicating that it plans to ...
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ArticleFESI welcomes entry into force of FTA between EU and Vietnam
The Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) is welcoming the long-awaited formal entry into the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Vietnam (EVFTA) on Aug. 1. After more than eight years of negotiations, the EU and Vietnam will finally benefit from a free trade agreement that ...
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Germany’s anti-trust body clears Intersport’s new online business model
The online sales model of Intersport Germany’s shared online platform has been cleared by the German Cartel Office, or Bundeskartellamt. Noting that it is difficult for small retailers to compete on their own against major online retailers like Amazon and the brands’ online shops, the anti-trust body said it sees ...
