Caudalie has just obtained from the French Supreme Court the right to prohibit 1001Pharmacies from marketing Caudalie products via its online sales platform.
A French cosmetics brand, Caudalie markets its products through a selective distribution network of approved pharmacies in France and Europe. Internet distribution of Caudalie products is reserved for pharmacies with their own websites, and which have been approved for sales in their pharmacies.
As a reminder, at the end of 2014, Caudalie took eNova Santé to the Paris Commercial Court, claiming a manifestly unlawful disturbance resulting from the sale of its products on the 1001 Pharmacies online sales platform. Caudalie considered that the sale of its products on this non-approved platform constituted a breach of its selective distribution network. On December 31, 2014, the Commercial Court ruled in Caudalie's favor.
On February 2, 2016, the Paris Court of Appeal nonetheless ruled that the prohibition in principle of online sales via a platform was likely to constitute a restriction of competition.
This decision gave rise to lively legal debates, to the point where some questioned the future of selective distribution.
On September 13, the French Supreme Court overturned this decision. Caudalie can now once again demand the withdrawal of its products from the 1001Pharmacies platform. The Cour de Cassation has firmly reiterated that in the presence of a selective distribution network whose legality has been established, as Caudalie's has been by the Conseil de la Concurrence, there is no reason to contest its right to prohibit the sale of its products on unauthorized online sales platforms.
The European Commission had also, on May 10, 2017, in its final report on the e-commerce sector inquiry, validated that the ban on the use of online sales platforms did not constitute a hardcore restriction of competition.
"We are very pleased with the decision handed down by the French Supreme Court. Selectivity has always been at the heart of our distribution strategy. In these proceedings, we wanted above all to defend the network of our approved pharmacists, who supported us in this approach", declared Bertrand Thomas, founder of CAUDALIE, when the decision was handed down.
