Recent Judgment by the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal Narrows the Scope for “Follow-on” Claims

On March 21, 2011, the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”) struck out a follow-on claim for damages brought by Emerson Electric and others against Le Carbone (Great Britain) Ltd under Section 47A of the Competition Act 1998 (the “Competition Act”). The CAT held that the claim could not proceed because Carbone GB was not an addressee of the European Commission’s 2003 infringement decision and that the claim would thus not be a true “follow-on” claim for the purposes of the Competition Act (i.e., liability against Carbone GB would need to be proved).