CASH REGISTERS TO PROVIDE SPARE PARTS FOR THEIR USED MACHINES . THIS IS AN UNECONOMICAL PRACTICE AND LIPTONS HAVE STATED THAT THEY WILL SHORTLY BE UNABLE EVEN TO DEAL IN SECONDHAND HUGIN MACHINES .
LIPTONS STATE , AND HUGIN DOES NOT DISPUTE THIS , THAT THEY WERE IN 1972 CAPABLE AND QUALIFIED TO UNDERTAKE ANY WORK NECESSARY ON HUGIN CASH REGISTERS . INDEED , CASH MACHINES LTD ( LATER KNOWN AS HUGIN GB ) AND SUBSEQUENTLY HUGIN UK HAD BOTH SUPPLIED SPARE PARTS TO LIPTONS FROM THE LATE 1960S TO OCTOBER 1972 FOR THE PURPOSES OF SERVICING AND MAINTAINING HUGIN CASH REGISTERS . THESE SUPPLIES CONTINUED TO BE MADE BY HUGIN UK FROM MAY TO OCTOBER 1972 NOTWITHSTANDING THAT HUGIN GB HAD REPUDIATED THE MAIN AGENCY AGREEMENT IN MAY 1972 AND NOTWITHSTANDING THAT HUGIN UK HAD NOT TAKEN OVER THE BENEFIT OR BURDEN OF HUGIN GB ' S CONTRACT WITH LIPTONS .
FURTHERMORE , LIPTONS MAINTAIN THAT THEY ARE STILL CAPABLE AND QUALIFIED IN THE MATTER OF THE SERVICE , MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF HUGIN CASH REGISTERS . LIPTONS ARE STILL SERVICING , REPAIRING AND REBUILDING USED HUGIN CASH REGISTERS BY VIRTUE OF THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DISMANTLING SOME MACHINES TO PRODUCE SPARE PARTS FOR OTHERS . THEY FURTHER DECLARE THAT THEY SERVICE ALL MAKES AND TYPES OF MACHINES INCLUDING THE LATEST ELECTRONIC MACHINES PRODUCED BY OTHER MANUFACTURERS .
II . LEGAL ASSESSMENT
A . APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE 86
ARTICLE 86 OF THE EEC TREATY PROVIDES THAT ANY ABUSE OF A DOMINANT POSITION WITHIN THE COMMON MARKET OR A SUBSTANTIAL PART OF IT SHALL BE PROHIBITED AS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE COMMON MARKET IN SO FAR AS IT MAY AFFECT TRADE BETWEEN MEMBER STATES .
HUGIN UK AND THE OTHER HUGIN COMPANIES ESTABLISHED WITHIN THE COMMON MARKET ARE WHOLLY CONTROLLED SUBSIDIARIES OF HUGIN AB . HUGIN AB AND HUGIN UK , TOGETHER WITH ALL ALL OTHER HUGIN COMPANIES , ARE AN ECONOMIC UNIT AND THEREFORE CONSTITUTE AN UNDERTAKING WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 86 .
THE MAJORITY OF PARTS FOR HUGIN CASH REGISTERS ARE MADE TO HUGIN DESIGN AND WITH TOOLS BELONGING TO HUGIN AB AND ARE EXCLUSIVE TO HUGIN AB . THESE PARTS ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE WITH THE PARTS OF OTHER MAKES OF CASH REGISTERS AND CANNOT OTHERWISE BE ECONOMICALLY REPRODUCED . HUGIN CASH REGISTERS CANNOT THEREFORE BE PROPERLY MAINTAINED , REPAIRED OR REBUILT WITHOUT THE USE OF HUGIN SPARE PARTS . HUGIN AB CONTROLS THE SUPPLY OF ALL HUGIN SPARE PARTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD .
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HUGIN AB ACCORDINGLY ENJOYS A MONOPOLY IN HUGIN SPARE PARTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND THUS , WITH ITS SUBSIDIARIES ESTABLISHED IN THE COMMON MARKET , IT HOLDS A DOMINANT POSITION IN THE COMMON MARKET FOR THE SUPPLY OF SUCH SPARE PARTS . HUGIN THEREFORE HAS A DOMINANT POSITION FOR THE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF HUGIN CASH REGISTERS IN RELATION TO COMPANIES WHICH NEED A SUPPLY OF HUGIN SPARE PARTS . IT FOLLOWS , THEREFORE , THAT HUGIN AB AND HUGIN UK HOLD