Geradin Partners successfully represents BDZV, MVFP and Qwant in Google Android EU case
Competition law firm Geradin Partners has successfully represented the German publishers’ associations BDZV and VDZ (now MVFP), as well as French search engine Qwant, as interveners in the Google Android competition case, contributing to the European Court of Justice dismissing Alphabet’s and Google’s appeal in its entirety.
In a landmark judgment, Europe’s highest court upheld the findings of the General Court and the European Commission that Google abused its dominant position by tying its Android operating system to its app store, Google Play, in order to cement the monopoly of Google Search and the dominance of the Chrome browser on mobile devices. Finding that Google’s conduct constituted an “intentional” infringement, in full knowledge of its detrimental effects on competition and innovation, the Court upheld a fine of €4.1 billion, the highest fine ever imposed in a competition law case.
Lawyers from several Geradin Partners offices have worked on the matter since its early stages in 2014. They represented complainants during the European Commission’s administrative proceedings, including the Open Internet Project (OIP), as well as interested third parties that expressed concerns during the investigation. They subsequently represented interveners before the Courts of the European Union.
Founder Damien Geradin said:
“The judgment is an important victory for competition in digital markets against Google’s anti-competitive playbook, which for too long has prevented innovation and entrenched dominant positions. We are pleased to see that, through this judgment, the Court of Justice has further strengthened European competition law, and we look forward to applying these principles to help shape digital markets and deliver positive outcomes for our clients.”
Thomas Höppner added:
“The judgment represents a significant victory for the European Commission and our clients. It also provides important guidance on the assessment of exclusionary conduct within complex digital ecosystems that will shape future public and private enforcement.”
Geradin Partners lawyers and economists who have worked on the case over the years include Damien Geradin, Trevor Soames, Thomas Höppner, Phillipp Westerhoff and Szymon Kohlhepp.
About Geradin Partners
Geradin Partners is an independent pan-European law firm specialising in competition law, litigation and digital regulation. The firm has extensive experience representing complainants in major antitrust investigations before the European Commission and national competition authorities, including the landmark Google Shopping, Google AdTech, Microsoft Teams and Apple App Tracking Transparency (ATT) cases. The firm advises companies across the digital ecosystem on all aspects of EU digital regulation, including the Digital Markets Act, the AI Act and the Digital Services Act, combining deep competition law expertise with a practical understanding of how digital markets operate.
