Navx Seeks €23M in Damages From Google

PARIS -- NAVX, a French corporation based near Paris, is suing Google in Paris Commercial Court for abuse of dominant position and seeking 23 million euros ($31 million) for damages to its business.

NAVX had already obtained a landmark victory in June 2010, when the French Competition Authority, following and extensive investigation, considered that Google might have abused its dominant position. The Authority had granted NAVX emergency interim measures and ordered that Google reactivate NAVX ‘s advertisements and clarify the conditions of the Adwords service. Google had then agreed to change their practices with respect to Adwords.

NAVX then sued Google in the Paris Commercial Court, seeking damages.

In its submissions to the court on December 1st, NAVX asked that the damages be set at 23 million euros ($31 million). It based its request on an in-depth analysis performed by Sorgem Evaluation, a leading firm in the field of assets financial valuation, which conducted a thorough evaluation included in a very detailed report.

"Google’s dominant position on the advertising market linked to search engines cannot be disputed, especially after the investigation conducted by the French Antitrust Authority, which concluded on December 14th 2010 that Google holds a dominant position. We are now asking the Paris Commercial Court to rule that Google abused its dominant position and order it to pay damages", said Jean Cherbonnier, CEO of NAVX.

Navx