The Litigator - Affleck Greene McMurtry, LLP » Competition Law

Aggregate Assessment of Damages Allows Certification of Conspiracy Class Actions, Courts Hold

Michael Osborne — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:36:49 +0000

In two recent decisions, the Ontario Superior Court and the British Columbia Court of Appeal relied on the aggregate damages provisions of the Class Proceedings Act in their respective provinces to certify class actions seeking damages for alleged conspiracies to fix prices for hydrogen peroxide and DRAM memory chips. In doing this, both courts side-stepped the requirement in the aggregate damages provisions that liability must be proved before damages can be assessed in the aggregate. A close examination of the decisions suggests, however, that the courts have in effect done away with this statutory requirement.

Competition Law Review

Michael Osborne — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:51:30 +0000

Contributors: Michael Osborne, Sonny Ingram, Jennifer Dyck, and Christian Farahat. Review of all Canadian Competition Law developments over the last 12 months, plus some US and EU developments, including: Mergers, Criminal, Private Actions, Reviewable Matters, Marketing Practices, The Long Arm of US Antitrust, Across the Pond Top Stories

Hard time for hard core cartels
Class action requirements loosened
Suncor - Petro-Canada merger gets green light
Nadeau’s feathers ruffled by Tribunal

The IMAX Case: Superior Court certifies first-ever Ontario shareholder class action for misrepresentations on the secondary market

David N. Vaillancourt — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:29:36 +0000

In a pair of decisions released the same day, Justice Katherine van Rensburg of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice became the first judge to consider the statutory remedy created under section 138.3 of the Ontario Securities Act (the “Act”) for shareholders of public companies who suffer damages from public company misrepresentations on the secondary securities market in documents such as annual financial statements and other public documents.

Competition Tribunal Cases: A Two Year Review

Michael Osborne — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:19:06 +0000

In the last two years, there have been no abuse of dominance cases and one contested merger case, which was dropped. Recently, however, amendments to the Competition Act transfer jurisdiction over some anti-competitive agreements and price maintenance to the Tribunal. This article reviews the cases in the Tribunal over the last two years and the recent amendments to the Competition Act, as they affect practice in the Tribunal.

Competition Law Review – May 2009

Michael Osborne — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:05:05 +0000

Contributors: Michael Osborne, Sonny Ingram, Sandra Monardo, Michelle Booth, Adam Wygodny, and Donna Wilson. Top stories Canada’s new competition law Budget 2009 includes the most significant amendments to the Competition Act in a generation: • A new “per se” conspiracy offence makes it illegal for competitors or potential competitors to fix prices, allocate markets, or control production of a product, even if there is no effect on competition...and more...

Complex Distribution Chain Kills DRAM Class Action – Pro-Sys Consultants Ltd. v. Infineon Technologies AG

Michael Osborne — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:32:02 +0000

A proposed class action by purchasers of electronic goods containing DRAM memory chips would degenerate into a series of individual trials, the British Columbia Supreme Court has held in Pro-Sys Consultants Ltd. v. Infineon Technologies AG.2 Key issues, including whether the plaintiffs paid more because of price-fixing by manufacturers of the chips, could not be determined on a class-wide basis. The court thus refused to certify the action as a class proceeding.

Private applicants flock to Tribunal

Michael Osborne — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:10:00 +0000

What do hockey, chickens, and airlines have in common? They have all been the subject of recent private applications in the Competition Tribunal.

On April 11, the Tribunal refused leave to John Annable to bring a private application attacking multi-game ticket…

Class action attacks “economic effect” of DuPont’s prices

Michael Osborne — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:11:42 +0000

Canada’s first class action alleging vertical price maintenance may have far reaching consequences for Canadian manufacturers and distributors.

Competition Law Year in Review 2007

Michael Osborne — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:05:18 +0000

Contributors: Michael Osborne , Jennifer Cantwell, Sandra Monardo, Michelle Booth, Sonny Ingram, Hooman Zardarzadeh TOP STORIES Ice storm Ice supplier Arctic Glacier Inc. tried to crush its fledgling competitor, Polar Ice Express Inc. by unlawfully interfering with its economic relations, an Alberta court found...

The year of the guideline

Michael Osborne — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:28:56 +0000

2007 was the year of the guideline. The Competition Bureau issued six guidelines and bulletins, some in draft, some in final form.