Lundqvist, Björn --- "Competition law as the limit to standard-setting" [2015] ELECD 1226; in Drexl, Josef; Di Porto, Fabiana (eds), "Competition Law as Regulation" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015) 365

Book Title: Competition Law as Regulation

Editor(s): Drexl, Josef; Di Porto, Fabiana

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783472581

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: Competition law as the limit to standard-setting

Author(s): Lundqvist, Björn

Number of pages: 32

Abstract/Description:

This chapter provides an analysis of the application of EU competition law to standard-setting by looking at case law under both Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. The aim of the chapter is to show that there is, and should be, a difference in competition-law treatment of standards and standard-setting conduct depending on whether the market exposed to the standard is plagued with network effects or not. For markets with network effects, collaboration to create standards is benign, even pro-competitive, while access to such standards, if covered by intellectual property rights, may, in exceptional circumstances, be granted under competition law. On the other hand, agreements to set standards for markets which do not display network effects should benefit from a heightened antitrust scrutiny, because these standard agreements may cause exclusionary anticompetitive effects.