Newsletter-21

124 NEWSLETTER 2016 Passing-On Defense and Indirect Purchaser Rule in Compensation Claims Arising from Competition Law* Prof. Dr. H. Ercument Erdem Introduction An illegal price increase as a result of a competition law infringe- ment primarily affects direct purchasers. Direct purchasers may then pass this increase on to their purchasers operating in sub-markets, namely, indirect purchasers. In such a case, the infringing undertakings that are subject to compensation claims may argue that direct purchas- ers have passed their damages on to indirect purchasers ( passing-on defense ); therefore, they are not harmed by the competition infringe- ment. In this regard, indirect purchasers may wish to bring actions against the infringing undertakings, by claiming that the damage has been passed on to them. The discussions concerning the competition law doctrine with regard to the standing of indirect purchasers are known as the “ indirect purchaser rule. ” The right to bring compensation claims arising from competi- tion law is regulated under the Act on the Protection of Competition numbered 4054 (“Competition Act”) Art. 57 et seq. However, the Competition Act does not include any explicit rules with regard to the passing-on defense and the indirect purchaser rule. Furthermore, the Court of Cassation does not have established case law on these issues. Below, we will elaborate on their European Union (“EU”) and Turkish practice. * Article of December 2016