Harmonizing The Jurisdictional Conundrums: The Intersection Of Competition & Patent Law

Ansh Aditya, Symbiosis International University, Pune

ABSTRACT

In many countries, particularly India, the relationship between intellectual property rights & competition law continues to be ambiguous. Divergent opinions exist over the Competition Commission's authority to implement its jurisdiction over a patentee's ability to prevent rivals from using its patented technology. The Hon'ble High Court of Delhi was asked this issue once again in the Monsanto & Ericsson v. CCI case. There were a number of factors that the court ignored, despite its best efforts to elucidate the matter of the position struggle among the Indian Competition Commission & the Controllers of the Indian Patent Office. The problems are resolved by the courts on a case-to-case foundation as there are no clear rules for handling the intersection across competition law & patent law. This has been appealed further by CCI before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The author of this work investigates the interplay & jurisdictional overlaps between the two imminent statutes. The author gives a comprehensive case anatomy & its repercussions followed by intricate statutory analysis and the intent of such luminaries who contributed to drafts of such acts. Given, the increasing antitrust issues surrounding the exercise of patent rights, it has become crucial to shed light on the legal stance on the interaction between these two entities. The results drawn by the author in this study are based on the application of classic methods of legislative interpretation & judicial commentariesof applicable sections of the Patents Act, 1970 & the Competition Act, 2002. Expert Committee Reports have been used to provide further support for these findings. The author of this article makes the case for the provision of such guidelines in order to permit & preserve the fragile equilibrium between competition law & patent law.