Friday, May 07, 2010

RPM in Finland and Spain

According to the Finnish Competition Authority, the Finnish Market Court should impose a fine of EUR4m on the home goods manufacturer because of mininum resale price maintenance (RPM) on its products, whereas the the Spanish Competition Authority has resolved to open formal proceedings against Montesa Honda, S.A. and six of its dealers for alleged minimum resale prices for Honda motorcycles.

Compulsory Licence for HIV/AIDS Drug

The first granted by Ecuador, see this IP Watch's post.

Google Books as seen from an Italian (librarian) perspective

Antonella De Robbio, 2010 Odissea Google Libri

Bundesgerichtshof: Keine Urheberrechtsverletzung durch Bildersuche bei Google

S. die Pressemitteilung.

Market for live music ticket retailing in the UK: merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation cleared (again)

See the Competition Commission's Press release and Final Report

In support of the Federal Research Public Access Act

An Open Letter to the Higher Education Community- Read Peter Suber on the bill.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

EU consultation on cultural and creative industries

Consultation: GREEN PAPER on "Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries"

Live from the ICN Conference 2010 (a very personal perspective) - Day One

Some introductory remarks going on... The documents available sofar are worth reading (see also the program)

Almunia speaking:
- Turkey a fantastic country (I totally agree, sadly not part of the EU)
- Crisis, we have to be even more determined
- competition on the merits
- less efficient firms should leave the market, even more so given the current times
- markets should remain open, mergers not to be used as a protectionist tool
- convergency important (stressed as a key message)
- global convergence in legal and economic analysis
- Commission's role (also) of bringing cases useful for many countries
- cross border trade important
- specificities still exist but common principles should be established
- unilateral conduct, role of the ICN
-- share experiences
-- Announcement: ICN discussing this topic in Brussels soon
- each legal system can deliver good results
- merger control has been facilitated
- transparency of decisions important
- reasoned decisions - consistency, predicatbility
- ICN a success story (105 agencies)
- future?
- Almunia's ideas:
-- advocacy worldwide, especially in crisis
-- projects important, if focused
-- convergence worldwide: Best Practices should be developed further
-- help to new agencies
-- full representation of competition authorities should be achieved (some not ICN's members)
Applause

Agency Effectiveness Working Group:
Olavo Chinaglia, Commissioner, Brazil Council for Economic Defense
- earlier: gathering info in order to share
-- manage human resources, etc.
- now: extract general, abstract guidelines (second phase)
- handbook prepared
-- tool to help agencies in their internal work
-next: guidelines have been put into effect?
- but the two phases (collect/assess) connected
-- not stopping gathering info
- next year
-- work on second chapter (presented today)
-- third chapter's draft (on knowledge management)

Advocacy Working Group:
Ed Smith, Director of International, U.K. Office of Fair Trading
- two projects
-- sharing experience (5 seminars, reports available on ICN website)
-- market studies
--- select
--- stakeholders' role
--- manage projects
- feedback
- teleseminars should go on
- update of available toolkits
- across the board (?)
- need to change something? Later we'll know more...
Cartel Working Group: Jozsef Sarai, Section Head, Hungarian Competition Authority
- essential conclusions
-- criminal sanctions the most effective tool
--- incentive for leniency

Merger Working Group:
J. Robert Kramer II, Director of Operations and Civil Enforcement, U.S.
Department of Justice, Antitrust Division
- working on recommended practices going on
-- East-West: inspiration for the working groups
--- new way of working developed
-- market definition and comments accompanying them
--- only a tool (referred to market definition), possibly not decisive
- hypothetical monopolist test incomporated
- ways to implement RP
- supply side substitution (where to put it?)
- Failing Firm
-- carefully assess counterfactual (what would happen if?)
-- links to/role of the parent company?

Unilateral Conduct Working Group:
Markus Lange, Head, International Section, German Bundeskartellamt
- understand/promote convergence
- analysis of refusal to deal
-- questionnaire distributed
-- good cooperation
-- rtd: not specifically defined
-- not only outright, also constructive (unreasonable terms)
-- margin squeeze: topical subject
-- 150 cases about it
--- 300 ms not assessed
-- general rule: freedom to contract
--then, when to intervene (answer tomorrow)?
- need of exchange among agencies felt
- divergencies, but those can still be discussed on substantial terms (ICN's plus point)
- future work
-- new workgroup on unilateral conduct
-- remedies
-- divergencies not to be underestimated
- implementation of past work
- NGA's involvement

Kazuhiko Takeshima, ICN Vice Chair of Advocacy and
Implementation
- report of last year's very intensive work
- more coordination and work in the future
-- needs assessment
-- structure

Mexican Federal Competition Commission

- database of regional networks
- technical assistance
-- template package
-- regulatory barriers (World Bank)
- UNCTAD: translations, participation
- APEC (?)

William Kovacic, ICN Vice Chair of Outreach
- technology
-- blog
--- coverage of activities
--- visitorship increased
---- more intensive use
--- more than 70 countries
--- use should be intensified!
- Outreach toolkit
-- slides on ICN's mission and objectives
-- more detailed revue of workgroups' outcome
-- Studies
--- academics about other networks' experiences (learning)
- Ahead
-- narrative
-- more NGAs' involvement (research centres involved)
-- convergence on good practices
-- dissemination
- ICN University
-- webbased approach
-- common vocabulary
---- not homogeneity
-- demonstration (movie: audio not working)
--- very funny remarks
OECD
- presentation on their activities in the field of competition

Panel: Ahead?
- more "discipline" in choosing projects
- OECD's strength
-- members' experience
-- secretariat's good work
--- regional centres' involvement
-- policies in perspective: material already collected the org. can refer to
-- interdisciplinarity (studies on innovation etc.)
--- complementarities with other policies

ICN's strength vis à vis OECD
- complementarities
-- but: how to invest?
- content, peer reviews
- ICN
-- more practically oriented,
-- perhaps different distribution network
-- different audiences (case level for the ICN)
-- org output's assessment
- possible tensions
-- how to allocate limited resources
- ICN: possibly more "bounding" of its members
- ICN's technical assistance good, possibly even better if coordinated with different orgs (such as OECD)

How to work closer together (ICN-OECD)?
- better transmission of info
-- liason "slightly more formal"
--- what's going on?
-- channels of distribution
- OECD's competition commission
-- somebody in charge of summing up what ICN does
-- outreach/technical assistance, difficult to be more informed (also because ICN doesn't have a Secretariat)
-- more joint events
--- at the content's level
-- pedagogical material
--- repackaging of OECD's material
--- cooperation with the coming ICN's university

Planning for the ICN’s Second Decade: Setting the Stage for Breakout Sessions, Plenary
- Vision, direction, implementation
- Achievements (useful for the future: but how do we measure them?)
-- efforts/contents/infrastructure/backbone for multilateral and bilateral discussions-negotiations among agencies
-- common work on advocacy, important in recession, based on experience (e.g. Japan)
- Respectful understanding of divergencies
-- taking care of economic conditions

Difficul things ahead?
Focus on the Working Groups
ICN's critical factors
- focus on competition
- vertical structure
- stakeholders' and agencies involvement
- structure of the working groups

Future
- Implementation
-- Barriers to better use?
-- communication/education
-- workshops


- Agency Effectiveness
-- quality control
- Inclusiveness
-- more diversed geographically








Monday, April 19, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

IBM on Chin

Here is the tech firm's reply to Prof. Andrew Chin's paper, as well as Chin's Respone to the IBM Memorandum.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

"Vorsprung durch Technik"

The Court of Justice of the European Union, Case C-398/08 P , Audi AG v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, on the distinctive character of a trade mark.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Friday, December 18, 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

US Statement at the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) Nineteenth Session

See the text of the Statement delivered, as well as the somewhat different approach taken by the European Commission (from KEI). An unofficial version of the Conclusions from WIPO SCCR 19 is also provided for by KEI.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Google Books Revised Settlement and Open Access

From Peter Suber’s December 2009 issue of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter. See also some comments from Germany's Coalition for Action: Copyright for Education and Research (Aktionsbündnis: Urheberrecht für Bildung und Wissenschaft)

ARL, ALA, ACRL on Facilitating Access to Copyrighted Works for the Blind or Persons with Other Disabilities

Reply Comments before the Copyright Office, Library of Congress. See also the Comment offered by Jane C. Ginsburg and June M. Besek.

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Friday, December 04, 2009

Elektronische Leseplätze in Bibliotheken

S. früheren Post.
OBERLANDESGERICHT FRANKFURT, Aktenzeichen: 11 U 40/09 (verkündet 24.11.2009).
Aus der Begründung (meine Hervorhebungen):
"Mit Recht wird jedoch darauf hingewiesen, dass es umgekehrt zu erheblichen praktischen Schwierigkeiten führen dürfte, wollte man ein angemessenes Lizenzangebot ausreichen lassen (Dreyer in HK-UrhR, 2. Auflage, 2009, § 52b Rn. 12). Die Anwendung der Schrankenregelung des § 52b UrhG hinge dann nämlich jeweils davon ab, ob die (gerichtliche) Prüfung des Angebotes ergibt, dass es als angemessen einzustufen ist. Die damit verbundene Rechtsunsicherheit könnte dazu führen, dass die Bibliotheken von der im öffentlichen lnteresse liegenden Schrankenregelung des § 52b UrhG keinen Gebrauch machen (...)
Dass der Absatzmarkt für Fachbücher durch die Schrankenregelung über Gebühr beeinträchtigt wird, erscheint nicht ausreichend belegt. Gerade im Universitätsbereich dürften die finanziellen Möglichkeiten der Studierenden in der Mehrzahl der Fälle ohnedies nicht ausreichen, um Fachliteratur käuflich zu erwerben (...)
Nach ganz überwiegender Auffassung in der Literatur, die der Senat teilt, begründet § 52b UrhG eine Annex-Berechtigung zur Digitalisierung des Werkes, weil die Bestimmung anderenfalls weitgehend leer liefe, denn um die Zugänglichmachung zu ermöglichen, müssen die privilegierten Einrichtungen in aller Regel ein dazu erforderliches digitales Vervielfältigungsstück herstellen (...)
Dass dem Nutzer über den Lesezugriff hinaus auch Vervielfältigungen in gleicher Weise wie bei einer analogen Nutzung ermöglicht werden sollen, ergibt sich aus der Gesetzesbegründung jedoch nicht. Das im Urteil des Landgerichts beschriebene berechtigte Bedürfnis des Nutzers, Ausdrucke für eine sinnvolle Arbeit mit längeren Texten zu nutzen, wird in ausreichenden Maß durch die weiterhin bestehende Möglichkeit gewahrt, Kopien aus den in der Bibliothek vorhandenen Printexemplare zu fertigen. Schrankenbestimmungen sind grundsätzlich eng auszulegen (...)
Der Senat sieht indes keine überzeugende Möglichkeit, zwischen digitalen und analogen Vervielfältigungen zu unterscheiden (vgl. auch Schöwerling, ZUM 2009, 665; Heinz in juris-PR-lTR 14/2009).
Es ist danach auch nicht maßgeblich, ob die Möglichkeit, die an den Leseplätzen zugänglichen Dateien auszudrucken, die lnteressen der Rechtsinhaber nicht stärker beeinträchtigen würde, als dies bei der Nutzung von Kopiergeräten der Fall ist."

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

ARL and Others on the Google Books Settlement (Part III)

A Guide for the Perplexed Part III: The Amended Settlement Agreement, by Jonathan Band.

Zur Geltendmachung von Rechten aus einem Patent-Pool

"Patentverletzung durch Einsatz von geschützten Bauteilen in komplexen Vorrichtungen und die Rolle der Patent-Trolle", von Willi Schickedanz, in GRUR Int 2009, S. 901.

Zur Haftung des Internetanschlussinhabers bei Filesharing-Konstellationen nach den Grundsätzen der Störerhaftung

"Die Haftung des Internetanschlussinhabers bei Filesharing-Konstellationen nach den Grundsätzen der Störerhaftung", von Sven J. Mühlberger, in GRUR 2009, S. 1022.

Un titulo de Copyright europeo

Viviane Reding "ha recordado que con la entrada en vigor del Tratado de Lisboa será posible crear un título de "copyright europeo", que sería complementario al actual".

UK Digital Economy Bill

In particular on "technical" 3-strikes measures and the licensing of orphan works (see also clause 17).

Friday, November 20, 2009

RPM and the "hardcore restriction debate" in EU competition policy

See Resale Price Maintenance in EC Competition Law: The Need for a Standardised Approach , by Frederik van Doorn

IT-Branchenverband BIKT zum "dritten Korb" der Urheberrechtsreform

Aus der Pressemitteilung: "Der BIKT ...fordert das BMJ dazu auf, durch eine geeignete Regelung im Urheberrecht dafür zu sorgen, dass patentrechtliche Verbotsansprüche gegenüber Computerprogrammen keine Wirkung entfalten können. Der Verband plädiert daher für die Einführung einer „Schutzschirmklausel“, die die gesetzliche Absicherung des Urheberrechtsschutzes für Computerprogramme gegenüber dem Patentrecht gewährleistet".

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Google Books Settlement Amended

Here. A first overview of the amendments from a German perspective here. Matters concerning Open Access are discussed here, concerning CC licences in particular here, further links to ongoing discussions here.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

US-Russia Antitrust Cooperation

The Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on antitrust cooperation with the Russian antitrust agency, Федеральная антимонопольная служба (ФАС) (see the US and the Russian press releases).

On Optimal Decisions Rules for Competition Policy

See "On Optimal Legal Standards for Competition Policy: A General Welfare-Based Analysis" by Yannis Katsoulacos & David Ulph.

Open Access: Petitionen an die Legislative

Petition an den Deutschen Bundestag: "Der Deutsche Bundestag möge beschließen, dass wissenschaftliche Publikationen, die aus öffentlich geförderter Forschung hervorgehen, allen Bürgern kostenfrei zugänglich sein müssen. Institutionen, die staatliche Forschungsgelder autonom verwalten, soll der Bundestag auffordern, entsprechende Vorschriften zu erlassen und die technischen Voraussetzungen zu schaffen". S. auch "An Open Letter to the U.S. Congress Signed by 41 Nobel Prize Winners".

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Oracle/Sun Acquisition: Statement of Objections Issued

See this manager-magazin.de analysis, this from online.wsj.com, Oracle's first reaction and the US Department of Justice's Statement. See also Sun's filing to the SEC.

Oral argument in In Re Bilski before the US Supreme Court

See the transcript. Justice Breyer posed a slightly provoking question: "You know, I have a great, wonderful, really original method of teaching antitrust law, and it kept 80 percent of the students awake. They learned things --
(Laughter.)
JUSTICE BREYER: It was fabulous. And I could probably have reduced it to a set of steps and other teachers could have followed it. That you are going to say is patentable, too?
MR. JAKES: Potentially".

European Interoperability Framework

An unofficial draft copy is circulating.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Carlo Piana in Trento

Carlo Piana, Free Software Foundation Europe and Oracle Legal Counsel, Free Software Advocate, will talk at the Trento Competition Seminars about "Competition Policy, Innovation and Free/Open Source Software".

On Neelie Kroes' "steely political intent" in troubled economic times

See FT.com.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Competition Policy and Economic Crisis

Dr. Alessandra Tonazzi, Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), will talk about "Competition Policy in Difficult Economic Times" at the Trento Competition Seminars (Presentation).

Thursday, November 05, 2009

US Intel Case

See the Office of Attorney General Press Release. The AAI is quite supportive of the complaint. The Federal Trade Commission will possibly "join the fray against the chip maker".

On Creative Impulses and Copyright Law

Economies of Desire: Fair Use and Marketplace Assumptions, by Rebecca Tushnet.

Football rights in Italy

The Milan Appeals Court has suspended the award of broadcasting rights to satellite operator Sky Italia for the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons because of competition concern.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Remedies in the EU and US Microsoft Cases

The Quest for Appropriate Remedies in the Microsoft Antitrust EU Cases: A Comparative Appraisal, by Nicholas Economides and Ioannis Lianos

Electronic dissertations at Stanford

From Digitalkoans: "Under the program, digital dissertations will be stored in the Stanford Digital Repository, which provides preservation services for scholarly resources, helping to ensure their integrity, authenticity and usability over time (...) documents will be available to the Stanford community through Socrates, the university's online library catalog, and "available to the world" through Google, which will serve as a third-party distributor".

Gestion et commercialisation des droits sportifs de la Fédération française de football: Entente verticale sanctionnée

Décision n° 09-D-31 du 30 septembre 2009 relative à des pratiques mises en oeuvre dans le secteur de la gestion et de la commercialisation des droits sportifs de la Fédération française de football.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

Price competition in the distribution of books

The American Booksellers’ Association believes that the fierce price competition between Walmart, Target, and Amazon is damaging consumers.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Saturday, October 24, 2009

India: Competition Appellate Tribunal Formed

The body will hear appeals against decisions by the Competition Commission of India.

US Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009

The House Judiciary Committee has voted to repeal the insurance industry’s exemption from antitrust legislation

Ausschaltung eines preisaktiven Internetanbieters

Das Bundeskartellamt verhängt Bußgeld gegen Hörgerätehersteller Phonak GmbH. Aus der Pressemeldung: "Die einseitige Vorgabe von unverbindlichen Preisempfehlungen ist nach geltendem Recht grundsätzlich zulässig. Ordnungswidrig handelt jedoch, wer zu ihrer Durchsetzung dem Abnehmer Nachteile androht oder zufügt oder ihm Vorteile verspricht oder gewährt. Eine Liefersperre ist ein solcher Nachteil.
Das Bundeskartellamt misst dem beschriebenen Vorgehen hier eine über den Einzelfall hinausgehende wettbewerbliche Bedeutung zu. Die Ausschaltung des einen preisaktiven Internetanbieters war dazu geeignet und bestimmt, die auf dem deutschen Markt für den Handel mit Hörgeräten insgesamt herrschende Preisstabilität aufrechtzuerhalten bzw. wiederherzustellen. Ist aber der Preiswettbewerb auf Einzelhandelsebene ohnehin eingeschränkt, so wiegt jede weitere Verhinderung vorstoßenden Wettbewerbs umso schwerer"

Online distribution of music: joint statement

The statement sets out general principles designed to underpin the online distribution of music in the future. See also the EC press release.

Transgenic seed industry: the effects of Monsanto's market power

AAI's White Paper "Transgenic Seed Platforms: Competition Between a Rock and a Hard Place"