European Commission fines Guess almost 40 million euros in new crusade against online distribution restrictions

Brussels - On 17 December 2018, the European Commission fined the clothing company Guess 39.8 million euros for infringing EU antitrust rules by imposing restrictions on retailers’ ability to compete online. Concerns included ‘geo-blocking’ (i.e., restrictions on the EU territories into which retailers were allowed to sell Guess products), resale price restrictions, and restrictions on online advertising based on the Guess brand.