Intellectual Property and Competition Law

In recent times, commercial activities of companies exercising market power through their intellectual property rights have increasingly come under the scrutiny of the EU competition authorities. Intellectual Property and Competition Law: New Frontiers looks at how the leveraging strategies of Microsoft, the patent enhancement strategies of Astra Zeneca and Rambus, and the reverse payment settlements in the pharmaceutical sector have all attracted competition intervention, and how the courts have been forced to decide whether intellectual property issues are the primary subject matter of the case, or peripheral to that.

Drawing on these judgments, and others, this timely book brings together leading figures from practice and from academia who examine the increasingly complex and often strained relationship between intellectual property and competition law. Focusing primarily on EU law, but with valuable insight into US law, they highlight areas where new frontiers are emerging in the interface between the two, including; refusal to grant access to trade secrets; the new product test in consumer welfare; competition law in the pharmaceutical sector; standard setting; and FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory terms) commitments. The book also considers the way in which the Commission's proposed changes to the application of Article 102 EC may impact on the protection of intellectual property rights.

In the post-Microsoft litigation era, this timely book captures the range of current thinking on the subject. The impressive list of contributors brings together leading figures from academia and practice, from intellectual property and competition law, and from law and economics, offering unrivalled expert analysis of this complex area.

Ariel Ezrachi is the Director of the Centre for Competition Law and Policy at the University of Oxford. He is the Slaughter and May lecturer in Competition Law and a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford. He has published widely in the area of competition law and policy. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including EU Competition Law, An Analytical Guide to the Leading Cases (2nd edn 2010) and Private Labels, Brands, and Competition Policy (2009).


Steven Anderman is Professor of Law at Essex University. He has a special interest in the interface between Intellectual Property and Competition. He has widely lectured and published in the area. Recent speaking commitments on Microsoft have included Oxford University, Stockholm and Rome. He has worked as Expert on Competition Law for the Economic and Social Committee of the EU since 1984 and has advised both the Singapore (2004) and Chinese (2007) Governments on the IP consequences of their competition laws.