Competition Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Competition Law - Assignment Example It may be a gadget, technology or pill that would be a panacea to aches and pains. Another strategy is to take over existing business entities or corporate organizations that already possess the technology or business process by way of undertaking1, agreement2 or concentration3, either through merger or acquisition4. It may be undertaken to save a fledgling business or employed by business entities of equal capital assets to further strengthen its holdings and enhance its market viability or simply because it is cheaper to buy the rival company than to compete with it in the open market. One particular study that will be tackled in this paper is the cross-licensing, bundling or tying strategy that increases the role if not the dominance of a commercial organization. Thus this strategy warrants the close scrutiny of the European Commission to protect the interest of the European Market. The European Union advocates not only single market5 but open and free enterprise as well. Business entities or corporations have the discretion or liberty to acquire or join forces with other entities by virtue of agreements, undertaking or concentration but this right is not absolute. It is subject to certain conditions such that it must not prevent, restrict and distort competition6 and more importantly, it should not create, strengthen or abuse dominant position7. The primary objective of competition is to serve the general welfare of the consumers however the growing number of agreements, undertakings, mergers and/or acquisitions had the opposite effect since the main concern of businesses or corporations are increased profits and its bottom-line as well as to protect proprietary rights. The consumers were not protected from corporate greed and adventurism since there were no clear cut policies, standards or measures to regulate or control agreements, undertakings, mergers or acquisitions including collusive or abuse of dominant position by invoking exclusive rights over pat ents or intellectual properties. However, the enactment of Treaty of the Functioning European Union8 and its predecessor, the Treaty Establishing the European Union9 conferred upon competition authorities the jurisdiction not only to scrutinize undertakings within the EU but to ensure competition in the European market is not distorted. It is likewise authorized to determine the economic viability and practicability of the undertakings. It is also within the purview of the competition authorities to conduct due diligence to assess if the intellectual property rights over a product or information technology would significantly impede effective competition and strengthens or abuses dominance. It is empowered to conduct an inquiry to assess whether competition is still functioning effectively and the same is beneficial to the public in general. The TFEU was further supplemented by other regulatory measures such as Merger Control10, Individual11 and Block12 Exemptions and other Regulati ons which target specific industries or sectors. The task of this paper is to determine based on