Systembolaget brought an action against a Danish company and its Swedish parent company, seeking an injunction prohibiting them from marketing the sale of, inter alia, wine to consumers in Sweden by transporters engaged by or mediated by those companies, on the basis of the Swedish Marketing Act.
According to the Supreme Court, the investigation shows that it was the Danish company that sold wine to consumers in Sweden through e-commerce. The Danish company was established in Denmark and the wine was delivered to Sweden by a carrier hired by the Danish company. The Danish company purchased services relating to finance, IT and customer service, among other things, from the Swedish parent company, but the facts of the case did not show that any sales activities had taken place on site in Sweden.
According to the Supreme Court, it is clear from the Swedish Alcohol Act and its preparatory work that distance selling such as that at issue in the case does not contravene the Alcohol Act, but must be regarded as a permitted form of private importation. The marketing has therefore not been unfair. The Supreme Court has rejected Systembolaget's action.