The Competition Act 1998: Practical Advice and Guidance(Hawksmere Report S.)

Failure to operate within the legal framework of the UK and EU competition rules can lead to heavy fines of up to 10 per cent of a business's total UK turnover. The new rules prohibit agreements and business practices that damage competition in the UK, but your business or client can still be a victim of someone else's anti-competitive behaviour. If you don't know the rules, you won't be able to protect your business or advise your client. You need to know: what does the Act prohibits? Who does it apply to? How will it be enforced? What can you do if your business or client becomes a victim, or is investigated? You will find the answers to these questions and many more in this comprehensive and practical Report. It provides checklists and key points for both business people and lawyers to clarify the complexities of the EU and UK rules. It will help you appreciate the extent of the changes to the competition law regime and will ensure that you are fully aware of the implications of the new Act for yourself or client. Remember - fines of 10 per cent of turnover can be levied for breach of these rules.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Summary of the Act and its provisions; Historical and economic context; The Treaties and the European Union; Competition law as a sword and shield; Exemptions and principal arrangements in court; The scope of competition law; Cases illustrating the scope of competition law; Considering arrangements under competition law; Further information; Anti-competitive agreements; Areas to watch; Agreements; Case study: Bayer AG v Commission; Individual exemptions; Other exclusions; List of Guidance Notes and Legislation of the Office of Fair Trading; Further information; Common contracts; Vertical agreements; Agency agreements; Research and development, specialism regulations and horizontal agreements; Land agreements; Patent and know-how licences; Other intellectual property agreements; Further information; Abuse of market power; Introduction. Dominant position; Abuse of a dominant position; Further information; Compliance and enforcement; Compliance measures; Further information.

About the Author :
Susan Singleton is a solicitor, with her own firm, Singletons. She is one of the most active speakers on competition and commercial law in the UK. During 2000 she spoke at about 50 conferences, including extensive in-house training to British businesses on the then new Competition Act and she was part of the team providing training to the Office of Fair Trading under the new Act in 1999/2000. Most of her work consists of legal advice to clients on competition and related areas of law; recent work in the competition field has included major commercial court litigation in a damages action under Articles 81 and 82, OFT complaint under the 1998 Act, drafting of compliance programmes and regular advice on contracts and drafting to ensure compliance with the law. She has a particular interest in the computer industry and intellectual property rights and competition law. Susan Singleton is the author of over 20 legal books from Pitmans's Introduction to Competition Law (1992) to Blackstone's Guide to the Competition Act (1998). Her latest books have included E-commerce - a Practical Guide (Gower 2001) and the second edition of Tolley's Business the Internet and the Law (2001). She edits Kluwer's Comparative Law of Monopolies (looseleaf) and is on the committee of the Competition Law Association and Licensing Executives Society (EC Laws Committee).