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The Tar of Lazio has canceled the maximum fine imposed on Apple and Amazon in November 2021 and the amount of which was adjusted in January of this year.
L‘Antitrust had recognized “a restrictive agreement that did not allow all legitimate resellers of ‘genuine’ Apple and Beats products to operate on the Amazon shop.” According to the AGCM, “some contractual clauses of an agreement signed on October 31, 2018 – which prohibited official and unofficial resellers of Apple and Beats products from using Amazon.it, allowing the sale of Apple and Beats products in this marketplace only to Amazon and certain individuals chosen individually and in a discriminatory manner – violate Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union “. Basically, the sale of Apple / Beats products on Amazon would have been reserved for so-called Apple Premium Resellers, distorting the market.
The Lazio TAR, called into question by the companies, has established that Apple and Amazon have not been given enough time to prepare the defense, but not only. For example, the restriction of the sale of products only to “Premium Resellers” it would not have caused damage to competitionas the sellers excluded from the contract would have been a very limited percentage (only 3%) of the total sales of Apple products in Italy.
According to the judges“from the examination of the unfolding of the facts it is clear that the Antitrust Authority could have acquired all the information necessary to outline the basic elements of the offense and, therefore, decide whether or not to start the subsequent investigation phase in a very long period of time more limited than the actual course, during which no activities appear to have been carried out. This circumstance is in contrast with compliance with the principles of good performance and efficiency of administrative action, in the light of the jurisprudential guidelines referred to above “.
Amazon welcomed the decision in a statement: “We welcome the TAR’s decision. Our business model across Europe, he specified, is based on the success of small and medium-sized enterprises and we will continue to work hard to provide a wide selection of Apple products, quality of service and the convenience that our customers love “.
Apple echoes it: “We work hard to create the best products in the world with the intention of always offering our users an amazing experience. We have dedicated teams around the world who work with distributors, law enforcement and customs officials to ensure they are maintained our high standards and to ensure that our customers buy original products “.
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