The EU General Court (“Court”) reduced the fines imposed on Servier SAS and its subsidiaries (“Servier”) from a total of €428 million to €315 million (see press release no. 194/18), thereby partially annulling a European Commission (“Commission”) decision.
The Court confirmed the Commission’s finding that most of Servier’s practices (patent settlement agreements including connected side deals) violated the European cartel ban (Article 101 TFEU) since they hindered the market entry of cheaper generic drugs. The Court, however, rejected the Commission’s decision on the abuse of market power by Servier (Article 102 TFEU) since the Commission did not correctly define the relevant market.