EU launches antitrust investigation into Nike, Universal Studios and Hello Kitty owner

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The EU has launched antitrust investigations into Nike, Universal Studios and the owner of the Hello Kitty brand, over their licensing and distribution practices within the single market.

In a statement, the European commission said that it was looking into whether the three companies were illegally preventing retailers from selling certain goods licensed by them across borders and online, thereby breaking competition rules.

Nike, Universal Studios and Sanrio license the rights for some of the world's most well-known brands. Nike, for example, is the licensor of rights for Fútbol Club Barcelona's merchandise and Universal Studios is the licensor of rights for the "Minions" and "Despicable Me" franchises.

The commission said that the investigation relates to the sale of products, such as clothes, shoes, phone accessories, bags or toys, on which an image or text is applied during manufacturing.

Manufacturers are only allowed to use texts or images if they have signed a licencing agreement with the owner of the relevant intellectual property rights.

The commission said that it will “investigate whether the three companies, in their role as licensors of rights for merchandising products, may have breached EU competition rules by restricting their licensees' ability to sell licensed merchandise cross-border and online”.