This article was first published on: www.thelawyerawards.com, June 2017
Bristows led the charge for Google in a high-profile action brought by online mapping provider Streetmap.
This challenge, which was over the inclusion of a clickable map on Google’s search engine results, claimed that Google Maps had gained an unfair advantage over online mapping providers because of its dominance in online search.
The case, which lasted over three years, was one of a handful that reached final judgment on a standalone claim of abuse of dominance and the only case to date in which the defence of objective justification has been established.
Bristows partner Pat Treacy and Myles Jelf led a team that successfully resisted Streetmap’s three applications for permission to appeal and recovered costs incurred by Google from Streetmap and its third party litigation funder.
The firm’s team effectively coordinated with Google, which had a separate legal team representing it before the European Commission, all the while operating under significant time pressure.
Bristows’ victories were not limited to a single case – the firm also successfully represented Samsung in the landmark Unwired Planet case, which was the first time that a court considered the potential anti-competitive impact of patent “privateering”.