Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONFERENCES: International Distribution Institute to hold June conference in Italy, (May 5, 2016)

The International Distribution Institute will hold its 2016 Annual Conference on June 3-4 at the Golden Palace Hotel in Turin, Italy. This year’s conference will focus on establishing and managing distribution through the Internet.

The program will commence on the morning of Friday, June 3, with a session titled “Merging store and Internet retailing.” The session will deal with the implications of online sales on traditional distribution and players in the traditional distribution network.

The morning will continue with a panel discussion on engaging on the Internet in parallel with a traditional distribution network; a presentation on selling products through third-party platforms; controlling distributors’ online sales, while coping with EU antitrust rules; a session forecasting the results of the EU Commission’s e-commerce sector inquiry; and a program on whether it is possible to constrain aggressive pricing by distributors through the Internet without violating antitrust rules.

The afternoon will proceed with panel discussions on (1) limiting sales by distributors through third-party platforms; (2) whether selective distribution is the right solution, whether standards on brick-and-mortar shops can be imposed on the Internet, and which limitations on the use of trademarks may be imposed; and (3) whether third parties may promote products on the Internet in competition with the manufacturer’s network. Another session will focus on limiting the access to the Internet by members of a franchising network. A gala dinner will be held on Friday evening.

On Saturday, June 4, the program will begin with a workshop on drafting and negotiating minimum turnover clauses in agency and distributorship contracts. The following sessions will be held on the topics: (1) a means for stimulating the performance of the distributor; (2) drafting minimum purchase clauses in distributorship agreements; and (3) the consequences of non-attainment of minimum turnover requirements. A panel discussion will cover the effectiveness of minimum turnover clauses in agency agreements.

After lunch, there will be a workshop on managing franchisees and master franchisees facing financial difficulties. The following sessions will be held on the topics: (1) how to handle franchisees’ lack of liquidity at the start of a relationship; (2) providing products to a franchisee on a consignment basis; and (3) facing insolvency of the franchisee during the contractual relationship. Panel discussions will cover contractual remedies that may help franchisors to deal with the insolvency of franchisees and how to combine choice of forum or arbitration clauses with the right to claim in the franchisee’s country.

The conference will conclude with a workshop providing an overview of 30 years of Directive 86/653 on commercial agents. Sessions will cover: (1) the Commission’s evaluation of the directive; (2) the possibility of establishing a model agency contract that would conform to all domestic legislation of the EU; and (3) case law of the Court of Justice interpreting the directive. A panel discussion will cover the impact of the directive on contracts with non-EU principals.

Further information about the conference is available here. Registration may be made online on the International Distribution Institute’s website.

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