Belgian Court Of Appeal Confirms Ducati’s Abuse Of Dominant Position For Refusing To Directly Supply Components And Technical Information To Independent Repairers On 1 October 2014, the Court of Appeal of Ghent handed down its judgment upholding the Commercial Court of Dendermonde's decision of 3 November 2010 to the extent it found Ducati North Europe BV ("Ducati") to have abused its dominant position on the Belgian market for after-sales services for Ducati motorcycles. Ducati was found to have abused its dominant position by preventing one of its former authorised dealers and repairers, DD Bikes, from directly obtaining from Ducati, under the same conditions as Ducati dealers, the parts, equipment, technical information, software and tools necessary to repair Ducati motorcycles. By way of background, in October 2007, Ducati terminated the contract granting DD Bikes the status of authorised dealer and repairer of Ducati motorcycles. Nevertheless, DD Bikes requested to remain as an authorised repairer so as to keep the right to use the official Ducati logo, to order components and spare parts under the same conditions as other authorised repairers and to carry out repairs covered by the two-year warranty applicable to Ducati motorcycles. However, Ducati refused to grant such status, arguing that only authorised Ducati dealers would be admitted as authorised repairers. As a result, DD Bikes filed a complaint for unfair commercial practices before the Commercial Court of Dendermonde. In its November 2010 judgment, the Commercial Court first established that the repair of Ducati motorcycles was not part of the same market as the sale of Ducati motorcycles and that, unlike the market for the sale of motorcycles, the repair market was brand-specific. The Court also found the brand-specific market for after-sales services to be national in scope. The case is important as it extends to the motorcycle repair markets a number of the principles aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of independent repairers which have been applied by the European Commission to the motor vehicle repair markets. Unlike the lower court, the Court did not feel itself able to go so far as to order Ducati to appoint DD Bikes as an authorised repairer, and it remains to be seen whether a refusal to appoint a qualified stand-alone repairer to the authorised repair network would itself be held to infringe the competition rules (as the Commission has claimed may often be the case in the motor vehicle sector). That's good news for us!
