Category: Abuse

Several recent Commission cases and Court judgments suggest a new way of looking at some abuse cases – as a form of estoppel. The Court of Justice’s preliminary ruling in Telia Sonera, holding that a margin squeeze can be abusive even absent a duty to supply, has come in for some heavy criticism. If there is no antitrust obligation to supply, critics argue, how can the terms of supply be abusive? Telia Sonera contrasts markedly with the position of the US Supreme Court in LinkLine (PDF) which holds that margin squeeze is not a self standing abuse under the Sherman Act, though the minority opinion of Breyer does leave open the possibility that a margin squeeze might be unlawful if […]