ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: David Gilat and Jacob Kasulin, Gilat, Bareket & Co, Reinhold Cohn Group
11. Collective Redress 11.1 Group Claims
ria to interfere as such are very narrow. Arbitration in Israel – be it local or international, with Israel as either the seat or the governing law – is usually faster than court proceedings and – subject to the agreement of the parties – can be confidential. The parties are free to appoint their arbitrators, as well as to determine every other attribute of the proceedings, such as the procedural law and the degree to which the tribunal would be bound by evidence law or have to reason its decision. The Economic Competition Law of 1988 prohibits the making of arrangements involving restrictions that are likely to prevent or reduce competition, unless such are cleared in advance by the Israel Competi ‑ tion Authority. Under Section 3 (2) of the Economic Competition Law, arrangements whose restrictions all relate to patent use rights (and other listed intellectual property rights), entered into directly by the patent owner and the party receiving the rights, will not be deemed “restrictive arrangements”. 10. Settlement/Antitrust 10.1 Considerations and Scrutiny However, a patent owner or its exclusive licensee may still be accused of abusing their monopolistic power, for example, by charging too high a price. To that end, the relevant market would have to be determined, and, if indeed a finding of a monopoly is reached, it is possible for a patent owner to be found liable for such abuse, as was recently the case with a pharmaceuti ‑ cal company ordered to pay ILS8 million for charging exorbitant prices.
Israeli law allows for the filing of class actions, includ ‑ ing in the life sciences/pharma sector. Under the Class Actions Law of 5776-2006, a plaintiff’s claim may be certified as a class action if the claimant manages to establish: • the existence of an issue common to all members of the putative class; • that there is a reasonable chance of success; • that a class action is the appropriate and efficient method to litigate the matter; and • the adequacy and good faith of the proposed rep ‑ resentatives. Over the years, there have been many class action proceedings in the life sciences/pharma sector, litigat ‑ ing claims such as misrepresentation of side effects, failure to disclose expiration dates, misrepresentation of ingredients, and misclassification of preparations.
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