KG LEGAL KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI has vast cross border experience in litigation, antitrust and competition law.
We have extensive experience in handling Clients’ matters in litigation in courts and before administrative authorities in Poland, involving claims such as price fixing, monopolization, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, wrongful trade practices, other business torts.
In the field of competition law, the specialist team of our law firm conducts analyses of activities planned by clients in terms of compliance with the Act on Combating Unfair Competition, prepares risk assessment, recommendations and reports.
We provide legal assistance and represent clients in administrative proceedings before the President of the Polish Office for the Protection of Competition and Consumers (Polish UOKiK) and the European authorities. We have extensive litigation experience, and full right of audience in all courts, including representation of clients before common courts and the Polish Supreme Court.
We prepare notifications of the intention of concentration and represent clients in concentration control proceedings.
We advise on possible cooperation with antitrust authorities (leniency, voluntary submission to penalty).
We advise on abuse of dominant position and price fixing cases.
In the case of allegations of abuse of a dominant position, we represent clients in proceedings before the competent antitrust authorities.
We prepare draft contracts, recommendations, evaluate contracts concluded by customers and familiarize them with the principles that should be applied in relations with competitors, suppliers, distributors and customers.
Selected recent cases within litigation and antitrust / competition law handled by KG LEGAL KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI:
- Our law firm represented US client in the commercialization of the product in the energy sector. We advised the company on concluding an agreement with two companies in the energy technology industry. Its purpose was to create a JV company. One of the partners was a state-owned enterprise and the entire transaction was subject to increased regulatory oversight. The industry to which the contract pertained, as well as the international aspect of the contract, made the transaction complex and required pre-regulatory investigation. Using our experience as well as knowledge of regulations in the field of regulatory consultancy, commercial and economic matters as well as anti-monopoly law, we were able to draft and negotiate the execution of the contract. At a later stage, our law firm assisted our client to commercialize its technology in the field of energy.
- Our law firm represented a European corporate client in a case against a mobile operator. The case concerned unfair practices applied by an operator. We argued that the key terms in the operator contract were unfair. The contract included the conditions for unilaterally changing its contracts. The condition of changing the supplier or its products or changing the fees without prior notice also acted to the disadvantage of the customer. It was also crucial to impose conditions for immediate termination of the contract and suspension of services, while still charging corporate client. The case ended in favor of our client, and the court admitted in its judgment that the operator applied unfair practices.
- We are assisting Polish Client with international shareholding structure in the proceedings before the President of UOKiK in the case involving verification of services provided by commercial networks to suppliers of agri-food products. The services implemented by the Client raised concerns of the Polish authority in relation with possible price fixing for services consisting in the transport of products from central warehouses of the chain to individual stores. The Polish authority verifies (the case is pending) whether there are applied unfair practices within the central distribution system for goods in an integral part of the business model of retail chains.
- We have been instructed by one of the major US internet providers in the case of obtaining consent for concentration. The client planned a joint venture. The party to the transaction was the Polish company as a part of European media concern based in Luxembourg. Therefore, there was required the consent of the Polish Office for the Protection of Competition and Consumers, in accordance with the European Commission for such a concentration, based on Regulation 139/2004 Control of concentration between undertakings (the Merger Regulation).
- One of our client was addressed by the Polish Office for the Protection of Competition and Consumers and the Polish Financial Supervision Commission to explain its practices related to the client’s method of collecting data about competitive entities on the market and information about transaction in teleinformatic network through innovative web scraping methods. The subject matter of our assistance was a verification of the legality of the application of such a technology by the client from the perspective of using dominant position on the market. Our law firm has also prepared the response to the Polish UOKiK in this respect. The proceedings are pending.
