The European Microsoft Case at the Crossroads of Competition Policy and Innovation

Abstract

This article puts the judgment of the EC Court of First Instance (CFI) in Microsoft in perspective and links it with the ongoing discussion on competition policy and innovation. It also replies to some claims made by Ahlborn and Evans in their piece on the same judgment (http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1115867). The first section takes a general look at the judgment, and in particular at how the CFI issued a judgment from which it would be difficult to appeal. It also addresses the allegedly excessive deference of the CFI towards the Commission decision (1). Afterwards, the paper goes into more specific issues concerning the first part on interoperability information (2) and the second part on tying (3). Finally, the judgment is placed in a broader forward-looking perspective (4).

Keywords: Microsoft case (EU), essential facilities, interoperability, tying, innovation