European Union – Conflict of laws. Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 should be interpreted as meaning that an action for damages for unfair competition by which the assignee of part of the business acquired in the course of insolvency proceedings was accused of misrepresenting itself as being the exclusive distributor of articles manufactured by the debtor, did not fall within the jurisdiction of the court which had opened the insolvency proceedings. The Court of Justice of the European Union so held in a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning an action for unfair competition brought by the respondent company against the applicant companies.