Anti-Competitive Practices arising out of Intellectual Property Rights

This article throws light upon the anti competitive practices which are exercised by the holders of intellectual property rights, it highlights the apparent antagonism between the IPR laws and Competition law. The essential aspect of IPR is the grant of exclusive use whereas competition law aims at maximum allocation of resources without prejudice to achieve allocative efficiency. Both IPR and Competition law work in tandem performing their roles of encouraging innovation and consumer welfare respectively. The competition law strikes a balance by rewarding the IP holders but also safeguarding the market from unfair competition and anti competitive measures. But in recent times the competition commission of India has through various cases highlighted certain practices which involve abuse of IP rights, contrary to the provisions of competition act. The IPR holders use foul practices such as pricing abuse in form of excessive or differential pricing, or onerous provisions in the license agreement which may potentially cause market distortions.