In this issue:
We’re presenting two symposia this issue. A diverse variety of competition authorities and advocates tell us what’s on their minds, including Canada on cartels, Greece on professional services, Sweden on procurement, and Pakistan on advocacy, plus the ICN about competition assessments & a new virtual university, and the OECD on target constituencies. We also have the first two papers in an ongoing series on an especially hot topic: FRAND. Bo Vesterdorf has some serious concerns about civil rights, while Dennis Carlton & Allan Shampine look at setting benchmarks. Stay cool.
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FRAND: Civil Rights and Benchmarks
Antitrust Enforcement and Civil Rights: SEPs and FRAND Commitments
It is not right for either parliament or governments to prosecute and punish citizens for seeking protection for their rights before the courts. Bo Vesterdorf (Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)
Identifying Benchmarks for Applying Non-Discrimination in FRAND
Even when royalty rates for patents are not set in advance, FRAND terms can protect members of an SSO and this protection can be implemented by using various benchmarks. Dennis Carlton (Univ. of Chicago) & Allan L. Shampine (Compass Lexecon)
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Directly from the Authorities
Cuffs and Compliance: A 5-year Retrospective of Criminal Anticartel Competition Law Enforcement in Canada
The foregoing legislative changes signal the seriousness of white-collar crime and the Government of Canada’s eagerness to eradicate it. Grant LoPatriello (Competition Bureau Canada)
Greece: Diversifying and Expanding Advocacy Efforts and Outreach Activities in View of the Ongoing Financial Crisis
Structural reforms, particularly in the context of professional services, are “in the Authority’s view” a necessary precondition for overcoming the constraints imposed by the crisis. Dimitris Loukas (Hellenic Competition Commission)
Interactive Guidance and Other Outreach Efforts by the Swedish Competition Authority
If smaller companies would collaborate in procurements to a greater extent, this could have a positive and strengthening effect on competition. Johanna Bjurling & Johan Sahl (Competition Authority of Sweden)
Competition Advocacy as a Tool for Promoting Competition Culture and Combating Public Restraint: The Case of Pakistan
The Act did envisage that combating private restraint in the market is not sufficient, and that it is equally important to review the effects of government regulation and actions. Joseph Wilson (Competition Commission of Pakistan)
ICN: Advocacy and Outreach
This past year, the ICN broke new ground in adopting recommended practices in the area of competition advocacy when the 127 member agencies approved 13 practices on conducting competition assessments. Maria Coppola (U.S. FTC)
Strategies for Creating and Enhancing a Culture Favorable to Competition
Competition culture is most effectively promoted by focusing on particular constituencies “their needs and interests” and relevant tools for increasing competition culture within those constituencies. Sean Ennis (OECD)
