Publication details
Patent right exploatation under antitrust law scrutiny
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | EALE 2014 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://www.eale.org/conference/Aix-Marseille2014 |
| Field | Law sciences |
| Keywords | Competition law; patent law; IP law; essential facility; standard essential patent; licensing; refusal to deal; standard setting organization |
| Description | Patents have a vast influence on the modern economy. From their very nature, they provide exclusive rights to their holders or licensees. This might create substantial market power and therefore an effect resulting in restricted competition could stem from such rights in specific circumstances. This immanent and eternal clash causes complex relationship between laws designed for patent protection and competition law. Despite the basically same purpose of both these fields of law which is promoting innovation and through it consumer welfare it seems to be extremely difficult and tricky to find a fragile balance between these two fields of law in a way to achieve their primal goal and overcome their inborn antagonism. Within this scenario our paper will focus on a related question that does not seem to be answered clearly in EU law – under which conditions can a patent be considered an essential facility under competition law and when an undertaking benefiting from patent has a dominant position that triggers its possible liability for breaching of Article 102 TFEU? To the answer this question, our paper presents the underlying concepts of IP law and competition law and their interaction with focus on case law and assessment of patents by leading competition authorities in recent cases. Special importance of standard essential patents in competition assessment and related role of standard setting organizations are also explored. |
| Related projects: |