The ruling from the Patent and Market Court will be issued on Wednesday. Pricerunner, which was acquired by Klarna in 2022, claims that Google violated EU rules and stole customers from the price comparison site.
"It's a long, long, long period of abuse that has had a huge impact," says Scherp.
The question of liability has already been settled – the European Court of Justice has ruled that Google violated competition law. Now it is up to the individual company to pursue damages.
Does that mean that Pricerunner is guaranteed to be right in court?
"You could almost say that. It is decided in this way that you are entitled to damages, but then you have to show that you have suffered damage, and if so, how much damage you have suffered," says Scherp.
Billionaire hit in Germany
Last winter, a similar case was settled in Germany after the German price comparison site Idealo sued Google. The court ordered the American tech giant to pay 465 million euros, around 5 billion kronor, in damages.
"I have not seen the evidence they presented in Germany; it is confidential," says Scherp.
Would a similar outcome be disappointing for Pricerunner?
"I think it (the damages) should be higher considering that it is quite obvious that they (Pricerunner) suffered greater damage than that. At the same time, you have to be humble and understand that these are extremely high amounts anyway."
“Extremely strong evidence”
The verdict was initially scheduled for April 15, but has been postponed three times. The court cited the complexity and scope of the case.
"I've never experienced that. Sometimes you need a little more time, but three times is a lot."
The question is whether it will be the fourth time around.
"I think it will come on July 1st; they just postponed it a few days, so I think they are putting the finishing touches on it."
Scherp is hopeful.
"We have shown convincingly that a lot of harm has been suffered over a long period of time. And I think that evidence is extremely strong, I must say."
