TGS Baltic obtained a positive interim judgment for Coffee IN in recent judicial proceedings against Apollo Cinema.
According to TGS Baltic, the dispute relates to the situation in which “Apollo Kino OU and OU Coffee IN agreed that Apollo will operate Coffee IN’s self-service Yo! cafes in its cinemas. To protect Coffee IN’s investments, the uniform reputation of the trademark, and high level of service, exclusivity was also agreed on. Regardless of that, Apollo replaced Yo! cafes with competing Ice Cafe cafes in its cinemas in Mustamae, Solaris Centre, and Lounakeskus. Yo! cafes were relocated to places rarely visited by customers. As a result, Coffee IN filed an action with Harju County Court by demanding compensation for damage from Apollo for breaching the exclusivity clause.”
According to the firm, “since Apollo cinema attempted to avoid validity of the exclusivity obligation with an argument as if the exclusivity obligation was contrary to competition law, the court first made an interim judgment regarding whether the exclusivity obligation was in compliance with competition law and, therefore, valid. In particular, Apollo claimed in judicial proceedings that its market share on the cinema market is very high and, consequently, the exclusivity obligation between the parties is not permissible in terms of competition law. The court disagreed with this argument and provided several substantial explanations in its interim judgment regarding how to assess exclusivity clauses, i.e., non-compete obligations, in similar distribution agreements.”
TGS Baltic’s team included Partner Martti Peetsalu, Senior Associate Triinu Jarviste, and Associate Silvia Urgas.
