3. Does competition law apply to industrial property?

The industrial property sector has not escaped the application of competition law. The principle of applying antitrust law to industrial property agreements was established very early on in French law by the Commission technique des ententes et positions dominantes, forerunner of today's Autorité de la concurrence. The same applies to abuse of a dominant position, which has long enabled both national and European authorities to penalize the behavior of certain companies in a dominant position in the exploitation of their industrial property rights.

Indeed, while the normal exercise of the prerogatives conferred by industrial property law, and in particular the operating monopoly it confers on patent or software owners, is not in itself considered a restriction of competition, it could, in certain situations, be considered anti-competitive.

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