In October 2020, the Amsterdam interim relief judge rendered an interesting judgment on licensing terms and competition law, see ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2020:4908. The case at hand involved a dispute between IBTT, a company engaged in the design and production of cuddly toys for various brands, and Dromenjager, the trademark owner of the trademarks Woezel & Pip. Dromenjager licenses parties that wish to market Woezel & Pip products. A licensing agreement has been concluded between IBTT and Dromenjager. On the basis of that agreement, IBTT is prohibited from selling products to certain retailers including Kruidvat, a discount drugstore. Also, IBTT is not allowed to give discounts without Dromenjager’s permission and discounts are capped.
IBTT requested the court to order Dromenjager to allow the sale of products through e.g. Kruidvat, since the aforementioned provisions in the license agreement are contrary to Dutch and European competition law. The court agreed entirely with IBTT: Vertical price fixing and customer restrictions in license agreements are indeed contrary to competition law and are therefore void. That is a hardcore restriction which is not allowed. As a licensor you should not include articles on price fixing and customer restrictions in your agreements!
Contact Annelies ten Hove at ath@tenhoveadvocatuur.com for more information
