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The specifics of interpretation and application of the European union competition law in relation to patents: limitation of patent rights by the "essential facility doctrine" in the U.S. antitrust and E.U. competition law
Přibil, Stanislav ; Šmejkal, Václav (advisor) ; Dobřichovský, Tomáš (referee)
The relationship between competition law and intellectual property (IP) rights is often viewed as adversarial. Competition law strives to maintain effective competition as a way of achieving effective allocation of resources and thereby contributing to consumer welfare. IP rights, on the other hand, provide the IP holder with a legal monopoly for a limited period of time, which shield the IP holder from competition. Although the ultimate goal of competition law and IP rights is to contribute to consumer welfare, the methods used to achieve this goal - creating a monopoly on the one hand and maintaining competition on the other hand - seem to be in conflict. This thesis examines the interaction between competition law and patent rights. In particular, it considers whether patent rights can be restricted by the "essential facility doctrine", both under US antitrust law and EU competition law. The essential facility doctrine (EFD) was developed in US jurisprudence as a type of monopolization claim under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The doctrine has four elements: (1) control of an essential facility by a monopolist, (2) a competitor's inability to practically or economically duplicate the facility, (3) denial of use of the facility to the competitor, and (4) feasibility of providing access to the...
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