This book explores the relationship between intellectual property law and competition law, proposing a harmonious equilibrium in the dynamic landscape of evolving technology. The volume will be of interest to researchers in the field of the law of emerging technologies, IP law, and competition law.

Although competition law and intellectual property are often interwoven, until this book there has been little guidance on how they work together in practice. As the intersection between the two fields continues to grow worldwide, both in case law and in regulation, the book's markets-based approach, focusing on sectors such as pharmaceuticals, IT, telecoms, energy and agriculture in eleven of the world's most active jurisdictions, provides a much-needed in-depth understanding of how this interplay reveals itself among the different legal systems. Written by a range of authors including judges, regulators, academics, economists and practitioners in both fields, the book provides an international comparative perspective as well as detailed analysis of specific cases, policies and proposals for change. Among the issues and topics covered are the following: – free movement of goods and the protection of intellectual property rights; – standard essential patents & injunction in patent cases; – intellectual property rights between technological development and consumer protection; – geo-blocking; – online platforms and antitrust; – excessive prices. In this context, special attention is paid throughout to the increasing dialogue among Competition Authorities and between Judges and Competition Authorities around the world. As matchless remedy for the lack of uniformity heretofore, the book's investigation of the nexus between competition law and intellectual property in different sectors and in various countries takes a giant step towards a more-balanced approach and more-levelled regulation and practices. It will be warmly appreciated by policy makers, decision makers, regulators, practitioners and academics in both competition law and intellectual property fields

This open access edited book captures the complexities and conflicts arising at the interface of intellectual property rights (IPR) and competition law. To do so, it discusses four specific themes: (a) policies governing functioning of standard setting organizations (SSOs), transparency and incentivising future innovation; (b) issue of royalties for standard essential patents (SEPs) and related disputes; (c) due process principles, procedural fairness and best practices in competition law; and (d) coherence of patent policies and consonance with competition law to support innovation in new technologies. Many countries have formulated policies and re-oriented their economies to foster technological innovation as it is seen as a major source of economic growth. At the same time, there have been tensions between patent laws and competition laws, despite the fact that both are intended to enhance consumer welfare. In this regard, licensing of SEPs has been debated extensively, although in most instances, innovators and implementers successfully negotiate licensing of SEPs. However, there have been instances where disagreements on royalty base and royalty rates, terms of licensing, bundling of patents in licenses, pooling of licenses have arisen, and this has resulted in a surge of litigation in various jurisdictions and also drawn the attention of competition/anti-trust regulators. Further, a lingering lack of consensus among scholars, industry experts and regulators regarding solutions and techniques that are apposite in these matters across jurisdictions has added to the confusion. This book looks at the processes adopted by the competition/anti-trust regulators to apply the principles of due process and procedural fairness in investigating abuse of dominance cases against innovators.

Editors --Contributors --Foreword --Preface --Pharmaceutical Patents and Competition Issues --What Is Going on in National Systems?

This book analyses the legal approach to personal data taken by different fields of law. An increasing number of business models in the digital economy rely on personal data as a key input. In exchange for sharing their data, online users benefit from personalized and innovative services. But companies’ collection and use of personal data raise questions about privacy and fundamental rights. Moreover, given the substantial commercial and strategic value of personal data, their accumulation, control and use may raise competition concerns and negatively affect consumers. To establish a legal framework that ensures an adequate level of protection of personal data while at the same time providing an open and level playing field for businesses to develop innovative data-based services is a challenging task.With this objective in mind and against the background of the uniform rules set by the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the contributions to this book examine the significance and legal treatment of personal data in competition law, consumer protection law, general civil law and intellectual property law. Instead of providing an isolated analysis of the different areas of law, the book focuses on both synergies and tensions between the different legal fields, exploring potential ways to develop an integrated legal approach to personal data.