LEAST A LARGE PART OF THE ADVANTAGES OF THE REDUCED COSTS TRANSFERRED TO THEM . THE TECHNICAL COOPERATION , THE STANDARDIZATION OF THE PARTIES' INSTRUMENTS AND THE SUBSEQUENT GREATER INTERCHANGEABILITY OF CERTAIN PARTS AND ACCESSORIES FOR THE INSTRUMENTS CONCERNED WILL ALSO ALLOW THE CONSUMERS AN INCREASED USE OF THESE INSTRUMENTS WITHOUT INCREASED PURCHASING COSTS , BECAUSE THEY CAN ADD A GREATER NUMBER OF ACCESSORIES AND SPECIAL DEVICES MANUFACTURED BY BOTH SOPELEM AND VICKERS TO THE STANDARDIZED INSTRUMENTS .
BECAUSE OF THE COMPETITIVENESS , THE ECONOMIC STRENGTH AND THE PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF THEIR MAJOR COMPETITORS , SOPELEM AND VICKERS ARE BOUND TO TRANSFER THE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES TO THE CONSUMERS AND THE LATTER ARE THEREFORE ASSURED BENEFITS FROM THE AGREEMENT .
4 . THE AGREEMENT CONTAINS NO RESTRICTIONS WHICH ARE NOT INDISPENSABLE TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THE ABOVEMENTIONED OBJECTIVES .
TECHNICAL COOPERATION , COORDINATION AND EXCHANGE OF EXPERTISE IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ARE NECESSARY FOR SOPELEM AND VICKERS TO MAINTAIN A SUFFICIENTLY COMPREHENSIVE AND CONTINUOUSLY COMPETITIVE RANGE OF MICROSCOPES AT REASONABLE COSTS WHICH ARE COMPETITIVE IN PARTICULAR WITH THOSE OF THEIR JAPANESE COMPETITORS AND ALSO TO ENABLE THEM TO MAINTAIN AND EXPAND THEIR MARKET POSITION WHICH MIGHT INCREASE COMPETITION ON THE RELEVANT PRODUCT MARKET . THESE ARRANGEMENTS WERE INDISPENSABLE TOO IN RETAINING SOPELEM AS A DEVELOPER AND MANUFACTURER IN THE FIELD OF MICROSCOPY .
BECAUSE OF THEIR SMALL MARKET SHARES AND NOT VERY COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS BOTH PARTIES FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE SUFFICIENT SALES TO MAKE A TECHNICALLY SUFFICIENT INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM ECONOMIC OUTSIDE THEIR TRADITIONAL MARKETS .
THEREFORE AND IN ORDER TO OBTAIN FULLY THE ADVANTAGES OF THE TECHNICAL COOPERATION IT HAS BEEN NECESSARY FOR THE PARTIES TO COOPERATE IN THEIR SALES AND DISTRIBUTION ACTIVITIES TOO , AND AT THE SAME TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DISTRIBUTOR WAS TECHNICALLY COMPETENT TO MANAGE THE DISTRIBUTION AND AFTER-SALES SERVICE EVEN OF THE MOST COMPLICATED INSTRUMENTS .
NACHET HAS BEEN APPOINTED THE SOLE DISTRIBUTOR IN THE CONTINENTAL COUNTRIES OF THE COMMON MARKET WHERE THIS COMPANY ALSO HAD THE BETTER NETWORK BEFORE THE AGREEMENT . FOR THE SAME REASON VICKERS HAS BEEN APPOINTED THE SOLE DISTRIBUTOR IN IRELAND AND THE UNITED KINGDOM . THIS SYSTEM , HOWEVER , IS OPERATED VERY FLEXIBLY IN THAT VICKERS IS TEMPORARILY HANDLING DISTRIBUTION IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY WHERE IT HAD THE BEST BUSINESS RELATIONS OF THE PARTIES .
FURTHERMORE , COMMON SALES AND DISTRIBUTION ARE NECESSARY FOR SOPELEM AND VICKERS NOT ONLY TO MAINTAIN THEIR PRESENT MARKET POSITIONS BUT , IN PARTICULAR , TO CREATE THE COMMERCIAL BACKGROUND NECESSARY TO PENETRATE AND EXPAND THEIR BUSINESS IN THOSE PARTS OF THE COMMON MARKET WHERE THEIR INDIVIDUAL AND EVEN COMBINED POSITIONS ARE INSIGNIFICANT AND WHERE GERMAN AND PARTICULARLY JAPANESE COMPETITORS CONSTANTLY HAVE BEEN INCREASING THEIR MARKET SHARES .
THE RESTRICTIVE EFFECTS OF THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM ON INTRA-BRAND COMPETITION AND INTER-BRAND COMPETITION BETWEEN SOPELEM AND VICKERS WILL ONLY BE MINIMAL AND WILL BE COUNTERBALANCED BY THE ADVANTAGES FLOWING FROM IT , BECAUSE THE TWO PARTIES' MICROSCOPES ARE FAR MORE