Judicial Pronouncements Relating to the Interface between IPR and Competition Law in India and Foreign Jurisdictions

The current research article examines the legal theories that have been established in earlier instances and attempts to define the connection between the two bodies of law in India as well as in other jurisdictions, particularly the US and EU. Global harmonization of the interaction between competition policy and IPR is difficult soon due to the variety of national competition standards. While there is no perfect concurrence of perspectives regarding each IP licensing arrangement or practice, there is a fundamental concurrence regarding the interaction of IP and Competition law and the requirement for parity between the pro- and anti-competitive impacts of licensing practices. The IPR Authority has remained mum on the disputed subject of the refusal of license and compulsory licensing, where, despite the difference in opinions about its usefulness as antitrust principles, there is still a broad consensus that such principles should in any case only be used in exceptional circumstances ensuing a case-by-case analysis.