Exercise of intellectual property rights as an abuse of dominant position on the market – Decision Huawei v ZTE
Vol.8,No.16(2017)
Abstract
Keywords:
Standard Essential Patent; Abuse of a Dominant Position; Injunction; Standardsetting; Royalties; Competition
Pages:
s. 43–63
The paper provides a brief overview of the antitrust issues involving intellectual property, particularly regarding licensing technology essential to a standard. We describe main features of standard-setting process and the so-called FRAND commitments. The paper discusses the circumstances under which an IP right holder is not entitled to seek injunctive relief against an unlicensed implementer. Next, it observes that the application of the “exceptional circumstances” principle led to different interpretations in European case-law (Magill, IMS Health), European Commission’s approach (Microsoft, Samsung) and judgment of the CJEU in Huawei v ZTE. We conclude that the fundamental right of an essential patent holder (the right to exclude), could be subject to limitations under Article 102 TFEU due to legitimate expectations created among willing licensees.
Standard Essential Patent; Abuse of a Dominant Position; Injunction; Standardsetting; Royalties; Competition
s. 43–63
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Copyright © 2017 Katarína Kesselová