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Arshad (Paku) Khan, Dhruv Rajain, Oct 14, 2015
The antitrust/competition law regime of India has gained considerable importance as a result of India’s opening up of its economy commencing in early 1990s, moving towards becoming a liberalized and globally competitive economy. Given the wide ambit of antitrust law, there may arise a conflict with other laws in force in India, particularly intellectual property laws. Globally, there has always been a turf war in the implementation of IP laws vis-à-vis competition law, which has further intensified given the short comings in the paradoxes between these two laws, both globally and in India. The primary cause for this inconsistency is that IP laws are, by definition, exclusionary in nature, whereas competition law tends to mandate fair, equitable, and just treatment to all stakeholders.
Given the paramount importance of information technology sector to the Indian economy, the world is carefully watching how India’s competition regulator, namely the Competition Commission of India, will balance the potentially conflicting goals of Indian IP laws with the relatively new Indian competition law regime.
