Die Anwendung des Art. 101 AEUV auf Schutzrechtsvergleiche

When companies disagree on the validity or the scope of their intellectual property rights, they often settle their dispute amicably. Such settlement contracts have in the recent past stirred the interest of antitrust authorities in the European Union. The criteria relevant for the application of Art. 101 TFEU to such settlements, however, are as yet unclear.

This study outlines the established types of settlements and critically analyzes the pertinent literature and legal practice. On these grounds a novel, dogmatically conclusive approach is designed, utilizing a systematic and teleological interpretation of Art. 101 TFEU and building on core principles of intellectual property law. To prove its practicability, the concept is then applied to one patent- and one trademark related settlement drawn from the relevant case law.