Chillin'Competition

After MSFT I and II, bringing an Article 102 TFEU case against the Redmond giant may have seemed an easy shot.

This is probably what prompted the Omnis Group to lodge in December 2009 a complaint with the Commission alleging violations of Article 101 and 102 TFEU.

The Commission rightly dismissed the complaint in December 2010.

From both a factual and legal standpoint, the complaint looks indeed like a (bad) competition joke. 

Read and judge for yourself:

• The allegations relating to Article 102 TFEU concern a market (Enterprise Resource Planning software) on which MSFT had a market share<5%. When the Commission disputed the complainant’s dominance allegation, Omnis Group had this to reply: the Commission’s data – which is based on market intelligence from Gartner and IDC – is flawed. Microsoft lied to market research companies. Quotes from wikipedia confirm Microsoft’s important market position…
• Besides invoking all the existing types of antitrust violations under Article 101 and 102 (tying, refusal to deal, discrimination, cartel (!), monopoly (!)), the complainant took issue with a number of exotic antitrust infringements: misuse of European funds, violations of public procurement rules and corruption by Microsoft. No comment.
• Last, but not least, the complainant requested a oral hearing pursuant to Regulation 773/2004.

Omnis Group lawyers should be commended for their knowledge of competition law, and their impressive mastering of legal strategy.

This, to me, is one of the nuttiest cases of 2010.