Our Competition and Marketing Law Group

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP's Competition and Marketing Law Group provides advice to clients with respect to all aspects of Canadian competition law.  The Group possesses a unique insight in dealing with competition law matters as a result of having acted for both private sector clients, the Attorney General of Canada and the Commissioner of Competition, the head of the Canadian Competition Bureau.

Members of the Group have made submissions on competition law matters before a number of Canadian Parliamentary Committees, such as the Senate Standing Committee on Transport, as well as the Competition Commission in the United Kingdom.

Members of the Group have also been extensively involved in proposing, consulting and assisting in the implementation of recent amendments to the Competition Act.

Our Services

Our services include:

  • Bilingual advice and representation before the Competition Bureau and the Competition Tribunal relating to mergers, trade practices and advertising, pricing, marketing and distribution policies.
  • Preparing prenotification filings for the Competition Bureau and obtaining advisory opinions and advance ruling certificates with respect to mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures
  • Compliance advice and obtaining advisory opinions with respect to trade practices and agreements, as well as advertising, promotional contests, pricing, marketing and distribution practices.
  • Bilingual advice and representation before all civil courts and governmental boards in relation to issues under the Competition Act, including private claims for damages which may arise from unfair competition.
  • Bilingual advice and representation before the Competition Bureau and the criminal courts with respect to corporate and personal criminal liability under the Act, including search warrants, preliminary inquiries and jury and non-jury trials.

Mergers, Acquisitions and Joint Ventures

  • The Group regularly prepares prenotification filings and applications for Advance Ruling Certificates with respect to complex mergers and acquisitions.  The Group has secured approvals for the following significant mergers and acquisitions:
    • Counsel to Amoco in its $4 billion acquisition of Dome Petroleum to form Canada's largest oil producer
    • Counsel to Loblaw Companies Limited in its $2.2 billion acquisition of Provigo and the IGA retail business in Atlantic Canada to create Canada's largest supermarket chain
    • Counsel to Pharmacia & Upjohn in its $26 billion merger with Monsanto Company
    • Counsel to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board in its $2 billion acquisition of Cadillac Fairview Corporation, including the acquisition of Cadillac Fairview's 51 million square feet of premium retail and commercial real estate, such as the Toronto Eaton Centre, Pacific Centre in Vancouver and Montreal Eaton Centre
    • Counsel to the BTR Group and Siebe plc in their merger to create one of the world's largest engineering groups with a combined market capitalisation of $18.4 billion
  • In addition, members of the Group recently represented British Airways, Air France and Cathay Pacific before various Parliamentary Committees concerning the acquisition of Canadian Airlines by Air Canada.

Criminal and Civil Competition Litigation

  • Members of the Group have acted on behalf of individuals, corporations and the Attorney General of Canada in respect of criminal proceedings under the Competition Act.  In addition, the Group represents clients throughout investigations conducted by the Competition Bureau with respect to criminal matters.
  • Members of the Group have appeared frequently before the Competition Tribunal as well as appearing in matters before various courts; including, the Ontario Court of Justice, Ontario Court of Appeal, Superior Court of Québec, Québec Court of Appeal, Federal Court (Trial Division), the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.  Members of the Group have appeared in a number of major price fixing, market sharing, bid-rigging and foreign criminal conspiracy prosecutions.  Significant matters include the prosecution of a driving school operator for price fixing, predatory pricing, price discrimination and retail price maintenance (R. v. Perrault).
  • Members of the Group are currently acting as Special Counsel to the Commissioner of Competition in respect of a contested merger.  In addition, members of the Group have previously acted as Special Counsel to Commissioner of Competition in complex merger proceedings and on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada in both civil and criminal matters arising under the Competition Act.

Marketing Law Services

  • The Group regularly assists clients in designing and implementing advertising initiatives, including representation of major multi-national advertising agencies.
  • Members of the Group defend clients in prosecutions by the Competition Bureau with respect to alleged violations of the misleading advertising provisions of the Competition Act.  In addition, we act on behalf of clients who are parties to civil proceedings concerning misleading advertising claims.
  • The Group has been involved with the Competition Bureau and Health Canada in resolving packaging and labelling issues.  We regularly assist clients with respect to various packaging and labelling issues, primarily focussing upon issues relevant to trade between the U.S. and Canada.  Members of the Group have also been involved in litigation regarding intellectual property and trademark disputes.
  • The Group has been involved in all aspects of distribution and distribution channels, including pricing issues, refusal to supply issues and discount programs.  Members of the Group have assisted clients in developing distribution arrangements and the termination of distribution agreements.
  • Borden Ladner Gervais LLP's Competition and Marketing Law Group has developed comprehensive competition law compliance programs for businesses, including in-house seminars and audits for firm clients on various topics such as: advertising law, trademark law and competition/anti-trust law.

Representative Clients

  • Members of the Group regularly advise clients such as Hewlett-Packard, Chrysler, Nissan, General Motors, British Airways, Westfair Foods Ltd., Loblaw Companies, George Weston Ltd., Pharmacia Corporation and the Bank of Nova Scotia.
  • In addition to these clients, members of the Group have also acted in major transactions for Amoco Canada, Placer Dome, Barclay's Bank, Stentor, B.C.E., Motorola, Reuters, Spar Aerospace, Institute Mérieux, Investment Dealers Association, Gerber Foods, Amdahl, Atochem North America, Scepter Manufacturing, Schneider Corporation, Caradon Metals and Waste Management.

 

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