COMPETITION POLICY AND IP
Teresa Moreira
Head of Competition and Consumer Policies Branch
[email protected]
UNCTAD mandate - Competition law and
policy
2016 - 70 years of work on Competition law and
policy within the UN.
The UN Set of Principles on Competition (1980):
-Rules for the control of anticompetitive practices,
-The development dimension of competition law and
policy,
-Framework for international cooperation and exchange
of best practices
Competition Law and Policy goals
To promote economic
efficiency through open
and dynamic markets,
where companies
invest and innovate
To achieve economic
growth and consumer
welfare
Competition
neutrality
Intellectual Property
Encourage innovation
by rewarding the investment and the research &
development work
through the protection of patent holders and other IP
rights holders
Competition and Intellectual Property
Both pursue the goal of achieving economic growth and providing
for consumer welfare
IP rights are necessary to reward innovation and the research and
development efforts leading to innovation.
Nevertheless, the abusive exercise of IP rights may raise
competition concerns:
- Refusal to license
- Intra-technology restrictions
- Patents and standards setting processes
- Pay-for-delay settlements
Competition policy and Intellectual Property
Strong need to strike a balance between IP protection
and competition
- in order to safeguard innovation and maintain the
rewards and incentives needed
- and preventing/sanctioning anticompetitive practices
that may seriously hamper consumer welfare
UNCTAD’s work on Competition policy and
IP
Several background reports on this issue:
- A preliminary report on how competition policy addresses the
exercise of intellectual property rights (March 1999, doc.
TD/B/COM.2/CLP/10)
- Competition policy and the exercise of intellectual property rights
(August 2000, doc. TD/RBP/CONF.5/6)
- Competition policy and the exercise of intellectual property rights,
revised report (May 2001, doc. TD/B/COM.2/CLP/22)
- Competition policy and the exercise of intellectual property rights
(May 2008, doc. TD/B/COM.2/CLP/68)
- Examining the interface between the objectives of competition
policy and intellectual property (August 2016, doc. TD/B/C.I/CLP/36)
UNCTAD’s overall mandate - international
cooperation
Meeting
developing
countries’
needs
depends on
a balanced
and more
equitable
approach to
IP
Achieving
Sustainable
Development
Goals:
SDG 3 - Good
health and well
being in the light
of IPRs practices
by the
pharmaceutical
industry
UNCTAD’s
role:
Foster
cooperation
through
specific
guidance
and technical
assistance
Digital Economy Challenges
• Emerging and disruptive business models increased innovation
• Internet platforms and social media rising roles
• Appropriateness of existing legislation and regulatory
frameworks?
• Competition authorities need to keep up with the
technological
evolution
–
different
market
assessment, market studies, new investigative tools
and set of enforcement measures
International Cooperation and
UNCTAD’s role
• Global challenges entailed by trade liberalization, the
rapid development of ICTs, the rise of the digital economy
and the emergence of new key players in the markets platforms and the social networks.
• The need and opportunity of joint work at the
international level to identify the most important issues
and to assist developing countries improving their
capacities to face these challenges.
• UNCTAD’s new mandate on Consumer protection law
and policy - allowing for a improved interaction with
Competition policy.