The Supreme Court has dismissed a claim that the multinational company, Pfizer, had engaged in anti-competitive practices in dismissing a Co Galway company as the distributor of Pfizer animal health products.
Chanelle Veterinary Ltd, of Athenry Road, Loughrea, Co Galway, had claimed Pfizer (Ireland) Ltd, trading as Pfizer Animal Health, gave no reason for dismissing it as a distributor of Pfizer animal health products from June 1996. The company had been one of five firms distributing on behalf of Pfizer.
Chanelle alleged it was being punished by Pfizer for engaging in the supply of a generic veterinary product, Albex, which was in competition with a Pfizer product, Valbazan. At the High Court hearing, it was stated that Albex was developed by a sister company of Chanelle and that Valbazen had come off patent.
The court dismissed Chanelle's claims and found there was no question of an agreement between Pfizer and the other four wholesalers to "delist" Chanelle. The court also found the decision did not have as its object the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition. Chanelle appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. Giving that court's judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Murphy said it had emerged that all the Pfizer products would have been available to Chanelle, although not necessarily on terms as advantageous as would have been available to authorised agents.
He said the evidence established that Pfizer's decision to dismiss Chanelle could not justify the inference that its action represented or reflected some agreement or common purpose shared by Pfizer with the four surviving distributors.
He was satisfied the High Court was correct in concluding that the dismissal of Chanelle represented a unilateral decision and action by Pfizer itself and did not breach EU competition law.