Violation of non-competition clause 2

Violation of non-competition clause 2

Some months ago our agency closed an investigation into suspected violation of a non-competition clause. Our client had come up against a considerably decreasing demand for its products by a company we shall refer to as ‘company X’. Our client suspected that company X had done business with other companies.

Our client had obtained express exclusivity with regards to delivery of their products to third parties, by making several investments for the benefit of company X. Company X was thereby obliged to purchase only these products and to refrain from producing and distributing products themselves.

The problem with these types of violations usually lies in the way to investigate the issue tactically. Understandably, obtaining a proper understanding of the matter is very time-consuming but also highly necessary in order determine the course of action. In addition, the lawyer who will bring the case before the magistrate’s court after the investigation will need to be closely involved.

In this case, there was a set penalty payment per appointed violation. We adapted our strategy to this, since it was necessary to establish the structural nature of the violation instead of focusing on frequent proof of the violation in order to collect the penalty payments. After the matter was legally formulated and put on paper, we started the subsequent investigation.

During the investigation, BN consultants established violations three times by means of so-called pseudo-purchase. Of each purchase a neat handwritten invoice was received, and our consultants made sure to approach a different salesperson each time. For the sake of legal practice ‘Unus Testis – Nullus Testis’ (One Witness – No Witness) all purchases were made by two BN consultants. After company X’s management had been summoned to appear in court at which they were confronted with the findings, they confessed to structural violations of set non-violation clause. The penalty payments were made and there were no further violations.

Things obviously settled down at our client’s company after this. The case described above clearly demonstrates that our legal investigation and advice agency has the expertise and experience to address civil cases like these. BN will not hesitate to consult attorneys and solicitors if this benefits our client’s case.