Competition Policy Control over Intellectual Property Abuses: Some Lessons from Latin America

Abstract

This paper describes the interaction between Intellectual Property (IP) protection and competition policy in Latin America, as well as the institutional difficulties of Latin American countries in making progress towards an increased control of IP abuses. The first part gives a summary of the current state of IP protection in the region; the second part, highlights areas of interaction between IP protection and competition policy; the third part explores some of the institutional problems undermining the capacity of competition agencies to effectively redress IP competitive abuses.

Keywords: competition policy, antitrust, intellectual property, Latin America

JEL Classification: K21, O34, N46