The terms of the judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union allow Laboratoires Pierre Fabre to argue for an individual exemption to prohibit selling their dermo-cosmetic products on the Internet, and to reserve sales to the real pharmacies and parapharmacies networks. This decision may set a precedent in the cosmetic industry. Look for an answer in 2012 after a decision by the Paris Court of Appeal.
October 13, 2011
Pierre Fabre Laboratories have been opposed to the sale of dermo-cosmetic products on the Internet for many years. The Laboratories have argued that only the physical presence of a qualified pharmacist guarantees consumers the quality of pharmaceutical and personalized advice that is tailored to meet their expectations of efficiency and safety. In addition, selling dermo-cosmetic products promotes their counterfeiting and deprives them of the cosmetovigilance monitoring completed by highly qualified pharmaceutical professionals.
Following the injunction of the French Competition Board to allow its distributors to sell on the Internet, Pierre Fabre Laboratoires took the case to the Court of Appeal in Paris in October 2008. The Court acknowledged the merits of the arguments raised by Pierre Fabre Laboratoires and suspended the injunction until further notice.
To decide on the merits, the Court of Appeal in Paris sought the opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The Court of Appeals then posed a general question - known as a "preliminary" - to the CJEU as to whether the ban on selling on the Internet imposed by a manufacturer on its distributors constituted a restriction of competition.
In a judgement released today, the CJEU supported by and large the conclusions of …
