Hamptons

Hamptons is a well-known UK estate-agency brand, with a wider office network than a one-town firm, and the library names it on the Three Counties case. A local rule stopped agents advertising their fees and discounts. Hamptons was selling houses in a market where the ads left the commission out.

The Three Counties Estate Agents Association was the rule-maker. A local newspaper was involved in the restriction, which meant the ban reached the page sellers actually read. A brand with many offices can still be part of a local arrangement. The infringement is agreeing, through the association and the paper, that commissions would not be advertised. The library status is fined.

The library status is fined. No amount is stated for Hamptons. A seller comparing Hamptons with a local independent saw two ads and no percentages. The missing number is the competitive fact.

The library lists Hamptons on the Three Counties fee-advertising case.

The association's rule and the local paper's role are what kept commissions out of the ads.

Hamptons is a member brand in that fined matter, distinct from the association and from the publisher.

Sellers who already knew the Hamptons name still could not read a fee in the local paper and compare it with a smaller agent.

A smaller agent that wanted to undercut Hamptons in print was blocked by the same advertising rule.