Antitrust and Competition team at INTEGRITES protected interests of Dominoni Srl, an Italian manufacturer and exporter of agricultural machinery, in the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (the AMCU). The background of the case included another manufacturer who had been selling its agricultural equipment marked as “analogue to Dominoni” on the Ukrainian market at a much lower price. The design of the equipment was similar to the one manufactured by the firm’s client, but its technical characteristics differed significantly.
Having conducted thorough market analysis and collected well-grounded evidence base, INTEGRITES appealed to the AMCU with respect to the violation of law on protection against unfair competition. At the session on November 5, 2020, the AMCU approved mandatory recommendations for the manufacturer of the so called “analogues” and obliged the company to stop unfair practices.
The AMCU’s decision will help to restore fair competition as imitation of products of the foreign origin has been developing as a trend over recent years, especially in the consumer goods markets. The case of Dominoni Srl appears one of the first in the AMCU’s practice when the product in question is high-priced agricultural equipment (USD 20 000-30 000 per unit).
Serhiy Shershun, Partner and Head of Antitrust and Competition at INTEGRITES: “In this case we not only stood for the client’s reputation, but also protected interests of the local agricultural equipment manufacturers in good standing who promote their brands in a fair way instead of imitating more expensive foreign products. We’ve also stood up for the interests of farmers who have the right to clearly understand what they pay for”.
Led by Partner Serhiy Shershun, the Antitrust and Competition practice group at INTEGRITES included Attorney Mykola Boichuk and Associate Orest Turkevych.
Dominoni Srl is an Italian manufacturer of agricultural equipment (corn headers) which exports 90% of its products to Europe, America, Africa and Japan.
