12 Facts About Competition law

Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies.

Competition law is closely connected with law on deregulation of access to markets, state aids and subsidies, the privatization of state owned assets and the establishment of independent sector regulators, among other market-oriented supply-side policies.

In recent decades, competition law has been viewed as a way to provide better public services.

Since the enactment of the Sherman Act enforcement of competition law has been based on various economic theories adopted by Government.

From 1936 to 1972 courts' application of antitrust Competition law was dominated by the structure-conduct-performance paradigm of the Harvard School.

Related searches

From 1973 to 1991, the enforcement of antitrust Competition law was based on efficiency explanations as the Chicago School became dominant, and through legal writings such as Judge Robert Bork's book The Antitrust Paradox.

Competition law gained new recognition in Europe in the inter-war years, with Germany enacting its first anti-cartel law in 1923 and Sweden and Norway adopting similar laws in 1925 and 1926 respectively.

At a regional level EU competition law has its origins in the European Coal and Steel Community agreement between France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany in 1951 following the Second World War.

At a national level competition law is enforced through competition authorities, as well as private enforcement.

Group of economists and lawyers, who are largely associated with the University of Chicago, advocate an approach to competition law guided by the proposition that some actions that were originally considered to be anticompetitive could actually promote competition.

Competition law requires that firms proposing to merge gain authorization from the relevant government authority.

Competition law has become increasingly intertwined with intellectual property, such as copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and in some jurisdictions trade secrets.