Competition Law and IP Rights in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

This book provides an analytical overview of the function and application of competition law and intellectual property (IP) law in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. It offers a general introduction to the foundations and principles of competition law and its interface with intellectual property law, as well as a brief scientific preface, and an overview of the competitive environment and innovation system in which the pharmaceutical industry operates. It presents and discusses practices and conduct that have been identified as allegedly anticompetitive, analysing them from the perspectives of both competition and intellectual property law. The book discusses the issues raised by the 2009 EU (European Union) Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry in depth, with reference to the case law that has developed since the Inquiry was published. In particular, the book scrutinizes the cases and investigations in the European Union and United States regarding 'pay-for-delay' and other settlement agreements, the misuse of the patent systems, the misuse of the courts, and the alleged misuse of the regulatory system by pharmaceutical companies. It considers co-marketing, co-promotion, and co-branding from an antitrust perspective. There is discussion of different patent strategies and whether they violate competition law or patent law. The book also covers the introduction of the unitary patent in Europe, the Unified Patent Court, and their implications for the utilization of competition law.

The book describes and explains developments relating to competition law and intellectual property law in the relevant sectors, putting them into context from both a theoretical and practical perspective. It addresses important competition law issues that arise where IP rights are acquired and utilized in Europe. It also contains useful guidance on how to deal with competition issues that arise within the intellectual property framework, and discusses when competition law is applicable and when exemption under intellectual property law may be applied.

This comprehensive and detailed analysis is invaluable to practitioners, researchers, and students alike.


Author: Bjorn Lundqvist, Timo Minssen, Justin Pierce
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 07/30/2021
Pages: 576
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780198724827

About the Author

Bjorn Lundqvist, Associate Professor of EU Competition Law, Copenhagen Business School, University of Copenhagen, Timo Minssen, Associate Professor of Intellectual Property & Innovation Law, Centre for Information and Innovation Law (CIIR), University of Copenhagen, Justin Pierce, Doctoral Student, Department of Law, Lund University

Dr Bjorn Lundqvist is Associate Professor of EU Competition Law at the University of Copenhagen. He was Head of EU Competition Law at Roschier, Stockholm from 2009 to 2012. He is the author of 'Standardization under EU Competition Rules and US Antitrust Law' (Edward Elgar, 2014).

Dr Timo Minssen is Associate Professor of IP and Innovation Law at the University of Copenhagen. He has worked for a Life Science company and for law firms in Sweden and Germany. He has published a number of articles on comparative patent law and EU competition law.

Justin Pierce is a doctoral student in the Department of Law at Lund University.