The EU Commission has launched an investigation into the fashion house Pierre Cardin for possible violations of competition rules.
Pierre Cardin and his licensee, the Ahlers Group in North Rhine-Westphalia, may have violated EU law by, among other things, restricting cross-border and online sales of licensed products, as the EU Commission announced on Monday. According to the information, the German fashion manufacturer Ahlers is the largest licensee of Pierre Cardin in the European Economic Area.
In particular, the competition authorities want to investigate whether Pierre Cardin and Ahlers have developed a strategy against parallel imports and sales based on restrictions in the license agreements. No further details were initially given. If the allegations are confirmed, there is a risk of a competition penalty. In the EU, this is based, among other things, on the duration and severity of the violations, but may not exceed ten percent of a company’s turnover. (dpa)