The ACCC will face a test of its ability to win misuse of market power cases when a long-awaited judgment is handed down this week in the regulator’s appeal of a ruling dismissing its case alleging Pfizer misused its market power in the months leading up to the expiration of the patent for its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor.
Ultra Tune was “cavalier and careless” in its attitude towards its franchisees, the ACCC told the Federal Court Tuesday at the start of a four-day hearing in a case alleging the national car repair business failed to comply with the Franchising Code and breached the Australian Consumer Law.
The Federal Court has ruled that the Ford Motor Company of Australia engaged in unconscionable conduct towards customers complaining about their troubled PowerShift transmission systems, and ordered the company to pay $10 million in penalties.