Competition Law and Intellectual Property (IP) Rights: Analysis, Cases and Materials

Abstract

This chapter is part of a forthcoming book on EU and UK Competition Law. It provides critical analysis and materials on the following topics relating to the interaction between competition law and IP rights: the innovation process and the different models of interaction between competition law and IP rights, exhaustion of IP rights in Europe, the licensing of IP rights and the recent EU Transfer of Technology regulation and guidelines, technology sharing agreements and the constitution of "innovation commons", unilateral practices, such as refusal to license and provide interoperability, abuse of the IP system (fraud to the patent office, product hopping...), vexatious (sham) litigation, Standard Essential Patents and FRAND licensing obligations, exploitative IP related abuses (excessive royalties), "pay for delay"/reverse payment settlements agreements.

Keywords: competition law, IP rights, innovation, licensing, technology sharing, vexatious litigation, Standard Essential Patents, excessive pricing, reverse payments

JEL Classification: K21, L4, Q3