Media Mentions
2008
Benoît Keane commented on the rejection by the Irish of the new EU Treaty in the June 14 issue of theIrish Independent, Ireland's national daily newspaper. The article, titled "Where now for Ireland and the EU?" appeared on the first page of the Independent's supplement on the referendum.
Benoît Keane, Brussels, EU Competition, International
Philip Torbøl was quoted in the May 22 edition of European Voice in relation to Microsoft's appeal against fines imposed by the European Commission for non-compliance with a 2004 ruling that it should share its code on reasonable terms with rivals and cease bundling Windows Media Player in the Windows operating system. "Industry is saying 'enough is enough'. The more the Commission insists on imposing these enormous fines, the more industry will revolt," said Mr. Torbøl. "In the absence of legal measures for private enforcement of antitrust law, the Commission has decided to take matters into its own hands and apply big fines to compensate."
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Frank Schoneveld and Marc Sorini were quoted in the May 20 issue of Managing Intellectual Property in an article discussing the regulatory issues that alcohol manufacturers and distributors face when importing their product into the European Union and United States. Mr. Sorini said that while many people regard the U.S. as one of the most open economies in the world, when it comes to alcohol, "The regulatory system is more complicated, more expensive and more time consuming than you could have possibly imagined." Mr. Schoneveld advised people not only to register trade marks, but also to look at getting additional protection such as protected designation, traditional specialty guaranteed and, if possible, protected geographical indication.
Frank Schoneveld, Marc E. Sorini, Alcohol Beverages & Products, Brussels, EU Regulatory, Intellectual Property - Alcohol Beverages & Products
Patrice Corbiau was interviewed by RTL-TVI for its April 23 edition of the evening news as an impartial expert regarding a court case initiated by a consumer against a car manufacturer for misleading advertising and unfair trade practice.
Patrice Corbiau, Brussels, Corporate and Commercial - Brussels
Philip Torbøl was quoted in the March 27 issue of Competition Law360 in an article titled "Lower Fares, More Mergers On Horizon For Airlines", regarding the Open Skies agreement between the United States and the European Union. Mr. Torbøl discussed the benefits to travelers due to increased competition, as well as the inevitable consolidation in the market as airlines will have more incentive to merge. He concluded that, "This Open Skies agreement has brought us one step of the way. We're not all the way there to a liberalized EU-US air transport market. But already, on some routes it will allow much more competition, and that will bring prices down."
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Philip Torbøl was quoted in a February 26 article published by the Danish newspaper Børsen in relation to the differences between acting before the Danish authorities and the European Commission. He explained that to be successful in cases before the European Commission you have to build up and utilize your network, understand cultural nuances and be very persistent. A spokesman for McDermott's client Dansk Kollektiv Trafik was also quoted as saying that they would not have progressed as far in their case if they had used a law firm in Copenhagen, and that "it is my experience that it is necessary to have somebody who is there [in Brussels] and who knows the system."
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, International, International Antitrust & Competition
Newly promoted partner Philip Torbøl was profiled in the January 2 issue of Global Competition Review in an article titled "McDermott Will boosts competition group in Brussels". Mr. Torbøl commented that, "The European competition practice has been booming over the last couple of years and it is an honour to follow in the footsteps of so many great lawyers."
Philip Torbøl, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition
2007
Philip Torbøl was quoted in a November 7 article in the Danish business newspaper Børsen in relation to an anti-dumping case concerning steel fasteners.
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Philip Torbøl was quoted in a September 18 article in the Danish business newspaper Børsen in relation to the European Court of First Instance's Microsoft Judgment. The article discussed the Court's rejection of Microsoft's appeal of a 497 million euro fine for abuse of dominant position that the European Commission had imposed on the company in 2004. Mr. Torbøl warned that the Commission will now feel free to use the same methodology in other cases involving companies with very high market shares.
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Frank Schoneveld was quoted in the July 31 issue of International Herald Tribune in relation to the legal actions brought by several EU Member States and companies challenging the carbon emission quotas determined by the European Commission. Mr. Shoneveld explained that losses by the European Commission in these court cases "could throw the entire market out of balance .... Suddenly there could be anywhere between 5 percent and 20 percent more CO2 emissions allowed depending on the country." He added that judges could however seek to make their rulings narrow enough to avoid destabilising carbon markets.
Frank Schoneveld, Brussels, European Energy
Philip Torbøl was interviewed in the July 4 edition of the Danish business newspaper, Børsen, in relation to the introduction of a leniency program in Danish antitrust proceedings. Mr. Torbøl explains the effect that leniency has had on cartel cases in the EU and gives his view on how the introduction of a similar system in Denmark is likely to impact new Danish cases.
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Philip Torbøl was quoted in the June 27 issue of Competition Law360 regarding the European Commission’s decision to prohibit the merger between Ryanair and Aer Lingus. “We have seen mergers in the airline sector and the Commission has generally been promoting that airlines should merge,” Mr. Torbøl commented. The most recent and significant merger was Air France and KLM….The problem here is that it appears that the Commission is still looking relatively narrowly at the definition of the market and is afraid that the competition in the EU market is not strong enough to compensate for large market shares in a Member State. The fact that the parties did not withdraw the notification indicated that they were interested in appealing. In most instances, if the parties see that their merger isn’t going to go through, they withdraw their notification and abandon the merger.”
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Clive Stanbrook was quoted in the April 27 issue of The Wall Street Journal on the European Union's (EU) increased fines on cartel enforcement. "The EU can keep raising fines to fight cartels, but their tools are less sophisticated than those used in the United States," commented Mr. Stanbrook.
Clive Stanbrook QC, Brussels, EU Regulatory, International Trade - Brussels
Philip Torbøl was quoted in the 2 April edition of the Danish business newspaper, Børsen, in relation to an anticipated anti-dumping complaint into Chinese screws that was withdrawn at the last minute. The article mentions that, like furniture producers, EU screw producers were not able to convince the European Commission to open an investigation. Mr. Torbøl explains that current good results for EU industry make it difficult to demonstrate injury as a consequence of the alleged dumping. In addition, he observes that the Commission seems more critical now towards complaints due to increasing EU interests on the side of the importers, as could be observed in the recent shoe and textile cases.
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, International, International Trade - Brussels
Philip Torbøl was quoted in the March 22 issue of the Danish business newspaper Børsen. He was interviewed in relation to the EU/US Open Skies negotiations, in which he is representing parties in the airline industry.
Philip Torbøl, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Philip Torbøl was quoted in the 5 March edition of the Danish business newspaper Børsen in relation to the EU / US Open Skies negotiations. Mr. Torbøl is mentioned as representing parts of the European airline industry.
Philip Torbøl, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Philip Torbøl was quoted in the 2 March edition of Competition Law360 regarding the agreement of a preliminary deal in the EU / US Open Skies negotiations. He was mentioned as an advisor fo the European aviation industry and spoke about the ultimate goal of having a completely open aviation market.
Philip Torbøl, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Philip Torbøl was quoted in the 6 February edition of Competition Law360 regarding the EU / US Open Skies negotiations. He was interviewed during the latest round of talks taking place in Washington, aimed at liberalizing the transatlantic aviation market and replacing current bilateral air agreements between the US and various EU Member States.
Philip Torbøl, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
Philip Torbøl was profiled in an article in the 19 January issue of the Danish business newspaper Børsen in relation to the recent expansion of the Brussels office, resulting in the largest concentration of Danish lawyers in one single Brussels law firm.
Philip Torbøl, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition, International Antitrust & Competition
2006
Alasdair Bell was identified as a new member of McDermott's European Competition Practice Group in the December 21 issue of The Wall Street Journal.
Alasdair Bell, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition, London
Frank Schoneveld was quoted in the April 21 issue of Competition Law360 regarding new EU State aid rules for R&D.
Frank Schoneveld, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels
Clive Stanbrook was quoted in the April 7 issue of The Wall Street Journal regarding the decision by the EU to broaden the offensive against "golden shares." Clive commented that the use of so-called poison pills, shareholder-rights plans that were first deployed in the United States during the 1980s to make hostile takeovers prohibitively expensive, have been limited by judges.
Clive Stanbrook QC, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition, EU Regulatory
Clive Stanbrook QC was quoted in the 17 March issue of Competition Law360. The Brussels office partners were interviewed for a special series on law firms in Brussels, beginning with a feature on McDermott Will & Emery/Stanbrook LLP.
Clive Stanbrook QC, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition, EU Regulatory
Frank Schoneveld was interviewed on 10 February by LexisNexis regarding the impact on drug firms of paediatric product regulation.
Frank Schoneveld, Brussels, EU Regulatory, Product Liability
2005
Clive Stanbrook commented on Bloomberg.com on June 3 regarding an investigation by the European Commission.
Clive Stanbrook QC, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Regulatory
McDermott Will & Emery was mentioned in the February 16 issue of Handelsblatt in regard to the expansion in Brussels with Clive Stanbrook QC and a team of lawyers joining McDermott.
Clive Stanbrook QC, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition
McDermott Will & Emery was mentioned in the February 15 issue of The Times (London) regarding our expansion in Brussels. "The firm, run by Clive Stanbrook has had a strong reputation and was a satisfying example of British excellence abroad."
Clive Stanbrook QC, Antitrust & Competition, Brussels, EU Competition
