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Approach

With offices in London and Berlin, Vorys eControl offers cutting-edge and cost-effective solutions to your specific eCommerce-related challenges. [1]

We will work with you to establish or refine the distribution strategies necessary to alleviate eCommerce disruption and maximize growth across all channels. Once a clear strategy is in place, our team will help you develop the necessary legal and commercial foundation to execute your strategy in a manner that is both legally compliant and supported by key internal stakeholders and customers. Then, we will design and execute customized enforcement strategies that help you efficiently and effectively remove unauthorized sellers and regain control of online marketplace sales.

We have extensive experience in selective distribution, which is often the distribution strategy of choice for brands looking to protect themselves from the harms caused by uncontrolled and inappropriate sales across different channels in today’s eCommerce age.

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Distribution Strategy

European courts and regulators have made clear that brands may sell their products through a selective distribution system. In a selective distribution system, brands only sell to authorized sellers who satisfy certain stated criteria of a qualitative and/or quantitative nature. These authorized sellers may then sell only to other authorized sellers within the selective distribution system (that also meet the criteria) or to end users. Authorized sellers within the selective distribution system may not sell to unauthorized sellers outside the system. Once implemented, selective distribution allows brands to cut off supply to sellers who divert products outside of the system in breach of their agreement with the brand and, critically, to enforce against unauthorized sellers.

When designing selective distribution systems and related reseller criteria, brands must be conscious of the entirely new “ecosystem” created by online marketplaces, and understand how they underpin the dramatic rise of eCommerce. This new ecosystem requires a new way of thinking about the characteristics of high-quality resellers in the ever-evolving eCommerce channel, particularly with respect to online marketplaces. More specifically, brands must now give careful thought to the qualities sought across three distinct categories of channels: brick-and-mortar, online, and online marketplace, as each category comes with its own distinct business realities. By designing marketplace-appropriate criteria and implementing a lawful selective distribution system, brands can achieve significant control over how their products are sold and how their brand is represented.

Get in Control

Download our free white paper regarding European distribution strategy in the eCommerce Age, including shifting from an exclusive to a selective model.

Daren Garcia

Daren Garcia
Partner, Vorys eControl

Daren is the managing partner of the Vorys London office and a member of Vorys eControl. Daren leads Vorys eControl’s international programs and also devotes substantial time advising U.S.-focused companies on their online sales control initiatives. Daren counsels branded manufacturers across numerous product verticals on the design and implementation of thought-leading distribution strategies and enforcement systems focused on driving profitable eCommerce growth through increased online sales control and gray market mitigation.

In addition, Daren has extensive lead trial counsel litigation experience in a variety of areas, including conducting litigation on behalf of brands against disruptive unauthorized resellers. Daren has been recognized by Chambers and Partners as a “Leading Lawyer” in litigation.

Sarwenaz Kiani

Sarwenaz Kiani
Partner, Vorys eControl

Sarwenaz is a partner in the Vorys Berlin office and a member of the eControl group. As a dual-qualified lawyer (Germany/England and Wales), she advises on a spectrum of EU, German, and UK antitrust law questions, including eControl, investigations, merger control, and contractual arrangements, as well as general competition law compliance. Sarwenaz has significant experience advising clients on vertical agreements such as the creation and implementation of distribution systems including the design of online sales criteria. She has also helped clients develop strategies to deal with unauthorized online and third-party platform sellers.

Sarwenaz has experience advising clients across a variety of industries. She has particular experience assisting luxury and consumer goods brands, including representing a global sports apparel company in the first antitrust proceedings regarding complex distribution agreements and in particular online restrictions in Germany. Sarwenaz has also helped a number of clients in the pharmaceutical industry.