EU - Competition Law

Newsletters and Bulletins / December 1997 / European Union

European Union - Notice Defining "Relevant Market" for Competition Law Purposes

Competition law analyses often require a determination of the relevant market within which a particular act must be evaluated. Determination of the confines of that market can sometimes be difficult. The European Commission, which is the body primarily concerned with the enforcement of competition law within the EU has now issued a notice setting out its view on the meaning of the term based on its own prior decisions and the decisions of the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance. According to the notice,

a relevant product market comprises all those products and/or services which are regarded as interchangeable or substitutable by the consumer, by reason of the products' characteristics, their prices and their intended uses

and

a relevant geographic market comprises the area in which the undertakings concerned are involved in the supply of products or services, in which the conditions of competition are sufficiently homogenous and which can be distinguished from neighboring areas because the conditions of competition are appreciably different in those areas.

December 1997 Index

[Home] [About Ladas & Parry LLP] [Contact Us] [Search]
[Trademarks] [Domain Names & E-Commerce] [Patents & Copyrights]
[Litigation] [IP Rights Maintenance] [IP as Property] [News & Bulletins]