Legal analysis
The main feature of monopoly is to restrict the sales of other manufacturers' products and infringe on the interests of other manufacturers. When an enterprise sets the agency right to designate a distributor in a certain region to exclusively operate a certain commodity, it does not control the production and sales of a certain industry, that is, it does not restrict the sales of products from other manufacturers. If there is an infringement problem, it also restricts the wide sales of its own goods without harming the interests of other enterprises. Agency refers to a civil legal system in which an agent, in the name of the principal (also known as himself), carries out civil acts with a third person (also known as the counterpart) within the scope of agency authority, and the legal consequences are directly borne by the principal. When an agent acts within the scope of agency authority, the principal shall bear civil liability for the agent's behavior. If an agent has obtained strong market control according to the exclusive agency clause and is deemed to have a dominant market position, even if the relevant agent only engages in agency activities and does not engage in distribution activities in the legal sense, under certain circumstances, it may still be regulated by the relevant provisions of relevant laws on abuse of market dominance because of its remarkable effect of excluding competition. If in a vertical relationship, for example, the so-called agent bears financial and commercial risks or expenses, then the so-called agreement signed between himself and the agent will not be regarded as a real agency agreement in the relevant legal sense. It is necessary to analyze the contents of the agency agreement from a case to judge whether the so-called agency is actually the dealer of the operator's counterparty, and then analyze whether these vertical arrangements violate the relevant monopoly law.
legal ground
anti monopoly law of the people's republic of china
Article 13 Operators with competitive relations are prohibited from reaching the following monopoly agreements: (1) fixing or changing commodity prices; (2) limiting the production or sales of commodities; (3) Dividing the sales market or the raw material purchasing market; (4) restricting the purchase of new technologies and equipment or the development of new technologies and products; (5) boycotting transactions; (six) other monopoly agreements recognized by the anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies in the State Council. Monopoly agreements mentioned in this Law refer to agreements, decisions or other concerted actions that exclude or restrict competition.
Article 17 Operators with market dominance are prohibited from engaging in the following acts of abusing market dominance: (1) selling commodities at unfairly high prices or buying commodities at unfairly low prices; (2) Selling goods at a price lower than the cost without justifiable reasons; (3) refusing to trade with the counterparty without justifiable reasons. (four) without justifiable reasons, the counterparty can only trade with it or only with its designated operators; (five) tying goods without justifiable reasons, or attaching other unreasonable trading conditions to the transaction; (six) without justifiable reasons, in terms of transaction conditions such as transaction price, the transaction counterpart with the same conditions is treated differently; (seven) other acts of abuse of market dominance identified by the anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies in the State Council. The term "dominant market position" as mentioned in this Law refers to the market position of an operator in the relevant market that can control the price, quantity or other trading conditions of commodities, or can hinder or influence the ability of other operators to enter the relevant market.