Competition Rules on Examination of Mergers Involving Intellectual Properties

Merger among undertakings attaining IPs has had increasing trend in the last two decades and as well competition law has been more sensitive and has enforced more effective control on them. Although competition law applies same general rules governing on mergers in IP domain but their characteristics require particular attention to the specific elements which make possible exact examining the competitive situation of merger in a regulated framework. Having analyzed U.S and EU merger law approaches, this article is going to explain the particular aspects of mergers involving IPs and their effects on Innovation and technological progress and finally specify their competitive situation. While the complexity of the issue and increasing developments have directed legal systems to review merger evaluating criterions and more focusing on the features of changing Innovation and technology markets, the current competition rules and attitudes of Iranian merger law in the absence of specific competition policy relating to IPs has caught in deficiencies, ambiguities and wrong approaches that demands serious modification and providing a transparent and comprehensive legal framework.