Preface

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PREFACE

The Intellectual Property Committee of the Section of Antitrust Law

is pleased to present this Handbook on a topic of growing importance

around the world: the application of antitrust and competition laws to

intellectual property licensing agreements.

To the best of the Committee’s knowledge, this Handbook represents

the first comprehensive effort to compile in one volume an analysis of

how the leading jurisdictions around the world apply their respective

antitrust and competition laws to intellectual property transactions. The

Handbook is intended to serve three primary purposes. First, it will

allow scholars, government enforcers and practitioners to compare the

way different jurisdictions approach the interface between competition

and intellectual property laws. Second, it will permit government

enforcers and practitioners to locate precedent and guidance in other

jurisdictions relevant to a particular problem or issue they face. And

third, it will enable practitioners to evaluate, at a general level, how the

laws of one or more jurisdictions of interest may apply to actual or

proposed licensing arrangements. Obviously, a Handbook can only

provide an introduction to the applicable law of any jurisdiction, and this

volume is not intended to be used as a substitute for consultation with

qualified counsel in any jurisdiction.

This book is the result of the hard work of many individuals around

the world. We owe special thanks to Geoffrey D. Oliver, who as editor-

in-chief was responsible for organizing the substantive content of the

chapters, ensuring consistency in coverage across the whole work,

coordinating the contributions of many authors into a unified manuscript

and seeing the project through to completion. Aiden Synnott conceived

the idea of the handbook and oversaw the origins of the project. Hiram

Andrews, Dina Kallay and Johannes Zöttl served as coeditors; their work

on various chapters helped to ensure uniform coverage, quality and style

across multiple jurisdictions. Alan Ryan helped to coordinate the

chapters of a number of European countries. Regan Kelley assisted with

the integration and formatting of the manuscript.

We would like to thank the following for their contributions with

respect to specific chapters: