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The commercial agent has a regulated status that protects him, particularly in the event of termination of the contract. An article by our law firm published by the website chefdentreprise.com on 29 January 2020 sets out the principles governing this activity.

https://www.chefdentreprise.com/Thematique/juridique-1055/Breves/Agent-commercial-statut-protecteur-346350.htm

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In the event of a sudden termination of established commercial relationships, how are the damages to which the victim of the termination is entitled assessed? Elements of answer in an article of our law firm published by the website decision-achats.fr on January 6, 2020.

https://www.decision-achats.fr/Thematique/strategie-achats-1236/Breves/Rupture-brutale-relations-commerciales-quelle-indemnisation-345479.htm

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Publication of an article by our law firm on the Village de la Justice website on December 23, 2019 about the contestation of the existence of know-how by franchisees. Study of the analysis of the Paris Court of Appeal which rejects the claim of the franchisees.

https://www.village-justice.com/articles/contestation-savoir-faire-franchiseur-rejetee-par-cour-appel-paris,33304.html

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A franchisor sometimes sells its products directly to consumers through Internet in parallel with its sales to its franchisees. Can they challenge this practice of direct sales? Study of the question in an article from our firm published by the franchise-magazine.com website on December 18 2019.

https://www.franchise-magazine.com/expert-franchise/tribunes/ventes-directes-site-internet-franchiseur-cour-appel-paris-decembre-2019

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Customer rights in the event of a distribution contract under a brand name (selective distribution, franchise) is a very sensitive issue. What are the retailer’s rights on customers? An article published by our Law firm on December 10, 2019 by Les Echos Solutions provides an update on recent case-law in this field.

https://solutions.lesechos.fr/franchise-retail/c/quels-sont-les-droits-dun-detaillant-appartenant-a-un-reseau-de-distribution-sur-la-clientele-18954/

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In its November 2019 issue, the legal journal Dalloz AJ Contrat publishes Xavier Henry’s comments on the judgment handed down on 19 September 2019 by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) concerning the communication by car manufacturers of technical information about their vehicles to independent repairers. This is an opportunity for the ECJ to recall the rights and obligations of car manufacturers with regard to EU Regulation N° 715/2007.

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Judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal of 6 November 2019 on the single agreement and the significant imbalance in the relationship between an car manufacturer and a distributor

The Paris Court of Appeal had to rule on disputes raised by an automobile distributor concerning the single agreement proposed by a car manufacturer (represented by our firm). The disputes were based on Article L. 441-7 (former) of the French Commercial Code (now Article L. 441-3) governing single agreements and on Article L. 442-6, I, 2° (former), now Article L. 442-1, I, 2°, of the same code relating to significant imbalance. Two main lessons can be drawn from the judgment rendered on 6 November last:

  • there was no subjugation to unbalanced obligations if the distributor was multi-brand and belonged to a large distribution group, which did not reflect an unbalanced balance of power. The single agreement could therefore not be challenged on the basis of Article L. 442-6, I, 2° (former).
  • the supplier wasfree to set a deadline for its distributors to sign the single agreement even if this date was before March 1 (in this case, the agreement had to be returned on December 1 of year n -1). If it was not returned within the time limit, the distributor was not entitled to the variable discounts stipulated in the agreement.

CA Paris arrêt 19.11.06

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