Intellectual Property Rights at the Crossroad Between Monopolization and Abuse of Dominant Position: American and European Approaches Compared

45 Pages Posted: 6 Oct 2006

See all articles by Emanuela Arezzo

Emanuela Arezzo

University of Teramo, School of Law; affiliation not provided to SSRN

Abstract

As intellectual property rights have encountered an expansive trend throughout the world, the debate on the relation between IPRs and competition law has regained enormous attention.

The discussion about whether antitrust law is (or should) be the most appropriate instrument to constraint an over-expansionist application of IPRs has found strong supporters and opponents on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, American courts and European agencies have adopted a quite different approach in the treatment of anticompetitive conduct favored by the exploitation of an intellectual property right. Namely, American courts have shown a tendency to refrain competition law tools from interfering with intangible monopolies, while European agencies have severely constrained monopolists' conduct that - in the most common example - use IPRs to leverage their dominant position in a second market.

This paper aims at studying and comparing the diverse approaches outlined above starting the analysis from the normative and conceptual difference between American monopolization and attempt to monopolize claims and European abuse of dominant position. As we will see, significant differences exist between these doctrines which have exerted a significant impact on the way courts apply competition tools towards IPRs.

Keywords: Monopolization, attempt to monopolize, abuse, dominance, intellectual property, patent, copyright, Microsoft, IMS, Datageneral, Illinois Tool, Magill, Kodak, refusal to license, unilateral conduct

JEL Classification: K21, L12, L41, O34

Suggested Citation

Arezzo, Emanuela and Arezzo, Emanuela, Intellectual Property Rights at the Crossroad Between Monopolization and Abuse of Dominant Position: American and European Approaches Compared. forthcoming in John Marshall Journal of Computer & Information Law, Vol. 24, No. 3, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=935047

Emanuela Arezzo (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

University of Teramo, School of Law ( email )

Via Balzarini – Campus di Coste Sant'Agostino
Teramo, Teramo 64100
Italy
+39.0861.266442 (Phone)
+39.0861.266456 (Fax)

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