IP rights provide rights-holders with tremendous freedom to determine how their intellectual properties will be exploited, but IP laws don’t confer immunity from competition law.
The perception that competition law and intellectual property (IP) law are adversaries is steadily declining as policy makers and legal professionals everywhere are starting to recognise that enforcement of IP rights complements competition policy. Innovation is a stimulus for competition in a market and is essential for economic growth and development. IP rights help enterprises generate market power for themselves, and are granted by the state as an incentive for innovation.
Authored by Pravin Anand.
This article was published in Trade Practices Law Journal June 2010.
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