Grall & Associés

The firm: Grall & Associés is an independent French law firm devoted exclusively to economic law applied to corporate business strategies.

As a leading firm in France, Grall & Associés has developed advanced expertise recognised in all areas related to competition law, distribution law and consumer law, in addition to intellectual property.

Grall & Associés has built a strong network of contacts in Europe and the US, Canada and in all major countries which have antitrust legislation. Grall & Associés is also a founding member of the Antitrust Alliance network.

The firm consists of 17 lawyers: five partners and 12 associates. For each client, the firm places very special importance on its business environment, and on the economic, regulatory and cultural particularities of its line of business.

Areas of practice
Competition: the competition division of Grall & Associés has one of the largest teams in the French market. Its experience working on cases enables it to assist each one of its clients by anticipating the reaction of the competition authorities and by developing the best strategy – be it advice or litigation – to respond in the right way to any complex situation that involves the French and European competition rules.

Distribution: distribution consists of a chain of economic players where each plays a specific role, from the production, manufacturing and importation to the end consumer, relying on intermediaries and logistics teams.

Each player, at every step of the value chain, will seek to generate a maximum profit margin, causing abuse – whether voluntary or not.

The Grall & Associés teams assist clients, both in anticipating and in handling any difficulty arising from the implementation of distribution law.

Consumer: advice on consumer information/legal guarantees/product safety/unfair trade practices/unfair clauses/consumer mediation (mandatory since 1 January 2016); legal assistance in making signage/conducting advertising campaigns/promotional activities/sales; drafting of rules for games, contests, sweepstakes; drafting of B2C general terms and conditions of sale (GTCS) and contracts for commercial guarantees; legal assistance in the context of trade with the government (DGCCRF /DIRECCTE/DDPP (Department Directorate for the Protection of Populations)) following an audit/warning/court order.

Intellectual property: advice and support for the protection of all the distinguishing marks and intellectual property rights of companies (trade marks, copyrights, patents, designs and models, software, databases, know-how, business secrets); advice and validation of product launches and promotional activities, prior art searches; procedures for the filing and registration of trade marks, audit of brand portfolios, adversial procedures before the French Intellectual Property Institute (INPI) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) (formerly Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM)).

Procedures and litigation: assistance and defence before the Competition Authority and the European Commission, or any other competent authority and before the French or European courts of appeal (IPC/ECJ); monitoring and assisting companies following notification of complaints received from French or European competition authorities; providing support in response to the investigative bodies within the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud prevention (DGCCRF), the Competition Authority or the European Commission, or other state competition authorities, in close partnership with colleagues at the Antitrust Alliance network, co ordination of any procedures involving the competition authorities and/or the competent courts of different countries.

Regulation: energy; the postal services; transportation; health law; agriculture.