Guidelines
Guidelines in the European Union Law
Resources
See also
- Commission notice
Guidelines
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Monthly Archives: April 2015
Exhaustion
Exhaustion
Exhaustion in the European Union Law
Concept of Exhaustion provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Intellectual property rights (IPRs) such as patents and trademarks give the developer certain exclusive rights over the exploitation of his work, such as in production and commerce. However, within the EU, the exclusive right cannot be used to artificially split up the common market along national borders. Therefore, the holder of an IPR in a Member State cannot oppose the import of a product protected by the IPR into that Member State, where that product was already put on the market in another Member State by the holder or with his consent. To this extent the holder's IPR is considered to be exhausted. The principle of exhaustion does not apply with regard to products put on the market in third countries.
Resources
See also
- Intellectual property right
Concerted practice
Concerted practice
Concerted practice in the European Union Law
Concept of Concerted practice provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Coordination between undertakings which, without having reached the stage of concluding a formal agreement, have knowingly substi-tuted practical cooperation for the risks of competition. A concerted practice can be constituted by direct or indirect contact between firms whose intention or effect is either to influence the conduct of the market or to disclose intended future behaviour to competitors.
Intra-brand competition
Intra-brand competition
Intra-brand competition in the European Union Law
Concept of Intra-brand competition provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Competition among distributors or retailers of the same branded product, be it on price or non-price terms. For example, a pair of Levi's jeans may be sold at a lower price in a discount store as compared to a department store, but often without the amenities in services that the latter provides.
Resources
See also
- Inter-brand competition
Comity
Comity
Comity in the European Union Law
Concept of Comity provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Principle applied in the field of international cooperation on compe-tition policy. By negative comity, every country that is party to a coop-eration agreement guarantees to take account of the important inter-ests of the other parties to the agreement when applying its own competition law. By positive comity, a country may ask the other parties to the agreement to take appropriate measures, under their competition law, against anti-competitive behaviour taking place on their territory that affects important interests of the requesting country.
Individual exemption
Individual exemption
Individual exemption in the European Union Law
Concept of Individual exemption provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Decision of the Commission pursuant to Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty to exempt notified agreements between companies from the prohibi-tion of Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty, on the basis of an individual assessment (Block exemption regulation). In broad terms, restric-tive agreements qualify for exemption if their benefits to general welfare (product improvement, technical or economic progress, benefits to consumer) outweigh their restrictive effects on competition.
Collusion
Collusion
Collusion in the European Union Law
Concept of Collusion provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Collusion refers to the coordination of firms' competitive behaviour. The likely result of such coordination is that prices rise, output is restricted and the profits of the colluding companies are higher than they would otherwise be. Collusive behaviour does not always rely on the existence of explicit agreements between firms. Collusive behav-iour can also result from situations where firms act individually but — in recognition of their interdependence with competitors — jointly exercise market power with the other colluding competitors. This is normally described as 'tacit collusion'.
Parallel trade
Parallel trade
Parallel trade (parallel imports) in the European Union Law
Concept of Parallel trade (parallel imports) provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Trade in products, which takes place outside the official distribution system set up by a particular firm. Through their own distribution system, firms may cause differences in prices for different countries, exploiting national differences in the behaviour of consumers. Parallel traders buy products in countries where they are sold at lower prices and sell them in high-price countries. The flow of products thereby created is called parallel trade.
Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index
Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index
Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index (HHI) in the European Union Law
Concept of Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index (HHI) provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Specific measurement of market concentration, that is, of the extent to which a small number of firms account for a large proportion of output. The HHI is used as one possible indicator of market power or competition among firms. It measures market concentration by adding the squares of the market shares of all firms in the industry. Where, for example, in a market five companies each have a market share of 20 %, the HHI is 400 + 400 + 400 + 400 + 400 = 2 000. The higher the HHI for a specific market, the more output is concentrated within a small number of firms. In general terms, with an HHI below 1 000, the market concentration can be characterised as low, between 1 000 and 1 800 as moderate and above 1 800 as high.
Economies of scale
Economies of scale
Economies of scale in the European Union Law
Concept of Economies of scale provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Economies of scale occur when firms achieve per unit cost savings by producing more of a good or service (that is, when average costs decrease as output increases). Such effects arise when it is possible to spread fixed costs over a higher output. Examples of scale economies are the bigger lorry that transports more while still requir-ing only one driver or the larger plant that does not require more spare parts to be kept in stock than the smaller plant.