Debate on SEP under FRAND terms revive in India -Ericsson wins the second round before Delhi High Court -Smartphone patent wars continue in India.

The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, vide its judgment dated July 13, 2023 in  Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (PUBL) vs. CCI  has revived the old debate for jurisdictional issue between the Controller of Patents  and the Fair Market Watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI)  for determination of the FRAND terms for grant of…

Supreme Court of India reaffirms competitive neutrality principle -holds that Government Companies are not outside the preview of the Competition Act

“Competitive neutrality” meaning creating a level playing field between public and private sector is a bedrock of modern competition laws across the Globe. For instance, in Europe, there are special provisions for scrutiny of “State Aid” in the form of Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Unfortunately, while redesigning…

CENTRAL GOVT NOTIFIES SOME KEY AMENDMENTS OF THE COMPETITION (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2023

The Government of India, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, vide gazette notification, S.O. 2228(E), dated 18th May 2023, has enforced the following important Sections/provisions of the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 with effect from 18 May 2023. SECTION OF THE MAIN COMPETITION ACT, 2002 TITLE DESCRIPTION 2 Definitions Commitment, Enterprise, Party, Relevant Product Market. 3 Anti-competitive agreements…

GOOGLE LOSES APPEAL AGAINST CCI’s “ANDROID ORDER” IN INDIA -NCLAT UPHOLDS THE CCI DECISION ON GOOGLE’S ABUSE OF DOMINANCE BUT WITH SOME CAVEATS ON REMEDIES

Google has tasted another setback in India in its fight with the Antitrust regulator, Competition Commission of India (“CCI/Commission”). The appeal filed by Google against the CCI last order dated 20.10.2022 has been dismissed on merits and, except for some reliefs on some of the market correction directions issued by the CCI in its said…

CCI ORDERS SECOND INVESTIGATION AGAINST IREL FOR ABUSE OF DOMINANT POSITION

Competitive neutrality is the bedrock of modern competition law and the Indian Fair market regulator, the Competition Commission of India (“Commission/CCI”) has been following this principle in most cases and has penalized the errant public sector undertaking (PSU) in the past.   Following the said trend, vide its order dated 18.10.2022 the Commission has ordered…