It is a truism that, in order to avoid breaching competition law, competitors should not communicate with one another.  In reality, it is almost inevitable that some degree of communication between competitors will take place.  Often competitors will come across one another at events such as conferences or trade association meetings.  They may have entirely legitimate reasons to discuss matters of common interest.  While some subjects should certainly be avoided, discussion of other topics may not be deemed to have an adverse effect on competition, and may even be considered to be pro-competitive.  The challenge is to manage such communications in a way that will ensure compliance with the rules and to know where to draw the line between legitimate discussions and those which may be deemed to be anti-competitive, and therefore risk landing the individuals and companies concerned in trouble with the competition authorities or before the courts.

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