Latham Secures Major Victory for Microsoft Against Qwant in Request for Interim Measures

Latham & Watkins has won a major victory on behalf of its client, Microsoft, with a decision issued on November 27, 2025, by the French Competition Authority. The Authority dismissed both the substantive complaint and the request for interim measures filed by Qwant, a company active in the general online search services sector, against Microsoft.

Qwant approached the Competition Authority in November 2024, alleging abuse of dominant position and economic dependency by Microsoft, and sought interim measures against the company. Based on the terms and application of their search syndication contract, Qwant accused Microsoft of engaging in exclusivity and tying practices, restricting its ability to develop an artificial intelligence model, and discriminating against it in access to search-related online advertising offerings.

The Authority concluded that Qwant did not provide sufficiently convincing evidence to demonstrate that Microsoft held a dominant position or that the conditions for economic dependency abuse were met.

The Latham team was led from Paris by partner Adrien Giraud, with Brussels partner Lars Kjølbye, and associate Victor Gerardin in Paris, and Axelle Aubry, Lydia Bitsakou in Brussels.