Facts
The Sellita Watch Co SA (hereinafter: Sellita) is a company that manufactures mechanical movements and sells them to watch factories. The ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse (hereinafter: ETA SA) is a subsidiary of The Swatch Group SA and supplies Sellita with raw movements (ébauches) for mechanical watches. In July 2002, ETA SA informed its customers, including Sellita, that due to logistical problems, it would reduce deliveries of raw movements and completely discontinue them as of January 1, 2006. Sellita then requested the Competition Commission (Weko) to conduct a preliminary examination and applied for interim measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of raw movements.
The Competition Commission approved a commitment declaration by ETA SA, in which it undertook to continue delivering raw movements to its existing customers during the proceedings before the Competition Commission at market- and industry-standard conditions. Sellita later requested to increase the prices for the raw movements by a maximum of 3.5%, which the Competition Commission rejected. Sellita appealed to the Appeals Commission for Competition Matters, which only approved the complaint with regard to the cost award.
Sellita then filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court and challenged the decision of the Appeals Commission. The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the complaint.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court found that the lower courts had rightly assumed that there was no non-reparable disadvantage to effective competition. The price increases by ETA SA did not call into question the continued supply and Sellita was not threatened in its economic existence.
The Federal Supreme Court further found that Sellita had not substantiated that…