Exam 21: Regulating the Competitive Environment

In the U.S., which type of merger is considered to pose the biggest threat to competition because they are the most likely to create or enhance dominance in the market?

Weigh the benefits and detriments of the EU and U.S. rules regarding jurisdiction and forum in privately enforced competition laws.

Antitrust law in the European Union are implemented by the Commission of the European Communities and are known as competition law.

The Airtours v. Commissioner of European Communities case involved the question of whether a merger between two members of the oligopoly in the short haul segment of the airline industry would create a "collective dominant" business firm.

In Japan, there are few remedies for private causes of action for damages due to antitrust violations in civil court system.

Foreign competition law is similar in substance are modeled after American antitrust law and similar in the sanctions for violating the law.

The American antitrust law policy toward patent licenses:

The European Union uses an exemption system in its competition law. This means that:

The Europeans tend to be reluctant to apply their competition law to activity outside the EU.

American policy tends to be more forgiving of a patent holder's restrictions than the European Commission.

The European Union's sophisticated antitrust law is based on and implemented through Article 1 and Article 2 of the Clayton Act.

The U.S. has an analogous system to the European Union's system for resolving antitrust law issues prior to the transaction taking place.

The Europeans have structured their system to provide for resolution of competition law issues after the transaction has taken place, typically through litigation.

In China, a qualifying merger or acquisition is referred to as a:

Under U.S. antitrust law, the rule of reason applies to situations where: