Netherlands jurisdiction report: Luxury products and online retailers
10-01-2021
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12-02-2018
In a significant ruling of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, handed down on July 14, 2020, the court ruled that sportswear manufacturer Nike can legally prohibit third parties from selling products through non-authorised retailers’ online platforms.
This decision was preceded by proceedings lasting several years between Nike European Operations Netherlands BV (Neon) and one of its Italian distributors, Action Sport.
Neon pursued the Nike’s Selective Retailer Distribution Policy to ensure that the Nike brand and the products are distributed and presented in the desired environment. Action Sport has, for some years, offered Nike products for sale to consumers via Amazon and website’s of non-authorised retailers. Amazon is not a Neon-authorised reseller of Nike products.
Selective distribution aims at protecting brands by enhancing
the quality and excellence of their products.
Producers of luxury goods have often felt that online
marketplaces (e.g. Amazon) ‘dilute the prestige of the
image associated with their brands as a result of sizeable
advertising investments strategies.
Several court decisions have dealt with this issue to date, but
the recent Nike case marks a notable turning point.
Selective distribution and the law
EU Regulation 330/2010
(1) on vertical agreements
defines selective distribution as ‘
a distribution system
where the supplier undertakes to sell the contract goods or
services, either directly or indirectly, only to distributors