What's wrong with this lawyer?!

Speaking of lawsuits, it sounds simple. Old Tang just needs to prove that there is a vertical monopoly between both parties and that this monopoly resulted in exclusion and restriction of competition.

Then, this behavior must have caused losses to the plaintiff, who is subsequently seeking damages based on those losses.

On the other hand, Qiangsheng Company needs to prove that there is no vertical monopoly between the two parties and that their actions did not result in exclusion or restriction of competition.

The other side has submitted more than twenty pieces of evidence for this purpose!

This requires Old Tang to carefully review all those pieces of evidence, analyze the opponent's strategic thinking, and then counterattack!

Wang Qingqing periodically came in to refill water. She could tell that Old Tang was taking this case very seriously, so she refrained from any interruption.

Time flew by until nightfall, but Old Tang remained energetic; his seemingly unlimited stamina was remarkable.

He had essentially deduced the opponent's approach—they submitted numerous pieces of evidence to claim that although the manufacturers initially imposed a minimum price, this restriction was not strongly binding for the distributors.

Among these pieces of evidence were multiple invoices from Jingzhou distributors, showing transaction prices lower than the minimum price agreed upon in the price control decision issued by the Bureau of Commerce.

Moreover, there were five invoices provided by Xin Da Auto Company, showing transactions dated before the administrative penalty was issued but after the implementation of the monopoly agreement.

Notably, the prices listed on these invoices were still below the agreed-upon minimum price.

Another piece of evidence included the manufacturer's collection of bare car inquiry prices from Handong distributors' stores at the time, which showed that many distributors priced their cars below the minimum price stipulated in the monopoly agreement.

In layman's terms, while the manufacturer did set a minimum price, it wasn't strictly enforced in practice. Many distributors, including Xin Da, were selling at will.

Thus, there was effectively no monopoly behavior, and even if there was, it failed to create exclusion or restriction of competition.

The legal basis lies in Old Tang's grounds for initiating the lawsuit, namely Article 114 of the Supreme Court's interpretation of the "Civil Procedure Law," which states that matters documented in legal documents prepared by government organs within their scope of authority should be presumed accurate unless contradicted with sufficient evidence to overturn them.

And this is just one argumentative approach. Another approach the opponent takes is to argue that the criteria for recognizing monopoly agreements in administrative penalties should differ from those in civil litigation.

The reason is straightforward: whether the minimum price was fully implemented is a reference factor for administrative penalties, not a decisive one.

What is the decisive factor? Naturally, it's whether a substantive monopoly agreement existed between the two parties.

However, in civil litigation, whether the two companies followed the minimum price agreement is a crucial and even determinative factor.

Liability for damages works this way—if the parties merely signed the agreement but did not implement it, then no tortious damages can be claimed because, fundamentally, no tortious behavior occurred.

After going through all the evidence and carefully reviewing the reply statement, Old Tang felt confident.

He had to admit, the opponent was truly formidable; their logic of evidence was among the strongest he had encountered.

Still, the stronger the opponent, the more excited Old Tang became. He had been dealing with mediocre cases recently, which was boring. Only an opponent like this could make things interesting!

Lowering his head, Old Tang began to write down his own strategy...

His strategy was not just meant for this particular case but aimed to set a precedent—similar cases should also be able to rely on this reasoning for proof!

It had been a while since he worked on large-scale litigation, and Old Tang was getting eager again. Hopefully, the judges at the Intermediate Court could handle it?

At Jingzhou Intermediate Court, a civil division chief responsible for cases under the court's direct jurisdiction suddenly sneezed. How strange—who's thinking about me?

Never mind, it's time to clock out!