On 10 June 2022, the UK Court of Appeal ruled in the case between Gemalto Holding B.V. and Thales Dis France SA and 13 others (“Gemalto“) versus Infineon Technologies AG, Infineon Technologies UK Ltd, REnesas Electronics Corporation (“Infineon“).[1] Infineon was fined by the European Commission in 2014 because of price agreements over chips. Competitor Gemalto had subsequently initiated proceedings for damages. The question was whether Gemalto’s claims had meanwhile become time-barred. The Court of Appeal ruled, as had the lower courts, that this was indeed the case. It noted that the five-year limitation period begins to run on the date of the European Commission’s press release of 22 April 2013. It is relevant that Gemalto played a role in the European Commission’s investigation into the cartel in the years before. Gemalto received, among other documents, the Statement of Objections. The Court of Appeal therefore found that Gemalto knew about the cartel at least at the time of the press release of 22 April 2013, even though the European Commission’s decision dates from a later date, namely 2014.

[1] Court of Appeal (Civil division), [2022] EWCA Civ 782, case CA-2022-00233 (Gemalto/Infineon).