Bibliographie sélective OHADA

Sur le plan supranational en Afrique, le droit de la concurrence est visé par les systèmes d’intégration existants ou émergents comme ceux de l’UEMOA en Afrique de l’Ouest et de la CEMAC en Afrique centrale. Par contre, jusqu’à l’heure actuelle, l’Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA) ne s’occupe pas du droit de la concurrence, ce qui pose la question de savoir si l’OHADA devrait avoir un rôle à jouer dans ce domaine. Le présent article aborde cette question dans une perspective européenne, en analysant l’approche de l’Union européenne en matière d’harmonisation du droit de la concurrence de ses États membres. En particulier, cette analyse met en relief les particularités du droit de la concurrence par rapport à d’autres matières du droit des affaires. Ces particularités peuvent expliquer les raisons pour lesquelles l’UE, jusqu’à maintenant, n’a pas harmonisé le droit de la concurrence dans les États membres. Mais la nécessité d’appliquer le droit de l’Union d’une manière décentralisée et les règles procédurales qui en résultent ont abouti à une harmonisation « souple » des droits nationaux. Pour l’OHADA, l’expérience européenne explique que la création d’une loi uniforme, en conformité avec l’approche traditionnelle de l’OHADA, ou la création d’un droit de la concurrence supranational de l’OHADA, qui s’ajouterait aux systèmes existants, ne produiraient guère des réponses adéquates. Par contre, l’article propose la création d’une politique concurrentielle pour l’Afrique, basée sur des recommandations ou des lignes directrices non contraignantes, qui pourraient être appliquées par les autorités nationales et supranationales existantes ou émergentes en Afrique subsaharienne. De même, il fait l’analyse critique de la politique de l’UE envers les pays en développement qui, dans le cadre des négociations pour des accords de partenariat économique (APE), pourrait facilement mener à un « regroupement géographique » des systèmes d’intégration économique en Afrique. Par conséquent, l’Europe ferait mieux de promouvoir l’idée d’un centre de politique de la concurrence africain qui, en formulant des recommandations ou des lignes directrices relatives à la politique de la concurrence pour l’Afrique, contribuerait davantage au développement durable des économies africaines et à leur intégration dans l’économie mondialisée.

Haksız rekabet hukuku, ticarî hayatın gerektirdiği dürüstlüğü sağlamak ve rekabet etme serbestîsini bu yönden sınırlamak amacıyla ortaya çıkmıştır. İlk olarak, haksız rekabet eyleminden zarar gören rakiplerin menfaatleri(ekonomik kişilikleri) korunmuştur. Daha sonra, rakibin kişiliği ile doğrudan bağlantısı bulunmayan ve hattâ rakip olmayanların menfaatlerinin de(müşteri, tüketici) zarar görebildiği farklı haksız rekabet eylemlerinin ortaya çıkması neticesinde, dürüst rekabetin temin edilmesinde, sadece rakiplerin değil; toplumun(tüketici dahil) da menfaatinin bulunduğu kabul edilmiştir. Bu yaklaşım, haksız rekabet hukuku ile korunan menfaat çevresinin genişlemesine zemin oluşturmuştur.Kartel kanunlarının etkisiyle, haksız rekabet hukukunun da tıpkı rekabetin korunması hukuku gibi, rekabet serbestisini ve rekabeti kurum olarak koruduğu, bu sebeple, ekonomik düzenin gerçekleşmesine katkıda bulunduğu ve ekonomi politikaları ile ilgisinin olduğu ileri sürülmüş ve uygulama alanının genişletilmesi önerilmişse de, bu görüşler kalıcı olamamıştır.Haksız rekabet ile ilgili düzenlemelerin(1986 tarihli İsviçre Haksız Rekabete Karşı Kanunu, 2004 tarihli Alman Haksız Rekabet Kanunu ve Temmuz 2012'de yürürlüğe girecek olan 6102 sayılı Türk Ticaret Kanunu'nun haksız rekabetle ilgili hükümleri) amacı, tüm ilgililerin lehine dürüst ve bozulmamış rekabeti temin etmektir. "Bozulmamış rekabet" kavramından, piyasa ekonomisi kurumu olarak rekabetin bozulması anlaşılmamalıdır. Haksız rekabet hukuku, dürüstlük kurallarına aykırı davranışın, ilgili mal ya da hizmetin tedavülü ile bağlantısı olan çevrelerin pazar davranışını ve böylelikle pazara katılanlar arasındaki ilişkileri etkileyip etkilemediği ile ilgilenir. Davranışın ya da kullanılan yöntemin, salt aldatıcı nitelikte olmasından hareketle haksız rekabet teşkil ettiği söylenemez. Bu nedenle, haksız rekabetle ilgili düzenlemelerin amacının, pazara katılanlar bakımından dürüst ve bozulmamış rekabetin temini olarak yorumlanması gerektiğini düşünüyoruz.Öte yandan, belli bir pazar gücüne sahip teşebbüslerin, piyasa yapısı üzerinde, rekabeti bütünüyle ya da önemli ölçüde ortadan kaldırabilecek düzeydeki uygulamaları, haksız rekabet hukukunun uygulama alanı içerisinde değerlendirilemez. Pazar gücünün denetimi ve piyasa yapısının korunması, münhasıran rekabetin korunması hukukunun konularıdır. Dolayısıyla, haksız rekabet hukuku ve rekabetin korunması hukuku, farklı açılardan rekabet kurumunun korunmasına hizmet etmektedir. Unfair competition law aims at assuring fairness in commercial affairs and restricting the freedom of competition from this respect. Firstly, the interests(the economic personality) of competitors who were damaged by the unfair competition act were protected. Next, as a result of different unfair competition acts which are not directly related to the personality of the competitor and even by which the interests of non-competitors might be damaged(client, consumer), it has been accepted that not only the competitors, but, also the public(including consumer) has an interest on the assurance of fair competition. This approach has established a basis for the enlargement of the scope of protected interests.Under the influence of cartel laws, it has been claimed that, like competition law, unfair competition law protects the freedom of competition and the competition itself as an institution and therefore, unfair competition law contributes to the settlement of economic order and has a relation with economy policies and its scope of application should be extended. Nonetheless, this idea did not remain.The aim of the unfair competition rules(Swiss Code Against Unfair Competition, German Act Against Unfair Competition and the provisions on unfair competition of Turkish Commercial Code which shall enter into force by July 2012) is in favour of all concerned parties, to assure fair and undistorted competition. By the concept of "undistorted competition", it should not be understood the distortion of competition as an institution of market economy. Unfair competition law is concerned with whether the unfair conduct influences or not the market behaviour of the milieu, which is related to the exchange of the concerned good or service, and eventually the relations between market participants. The conduct or the applied method could not be qualified as unfair competition, solely by its deceptive nature. For this reason, the aim of the unfair competition rules should be interpreted as the assurance of fair and undistorted competition with respect to the market participants.However, the practices of enterprises with certain market power, which could annihilate, completely or to a considerable extent, the competition in the market could not be treated in scope of unfair competition law. The control of market power and the protection of market structure are exclusively the matters of competition law. Therefore, unfair competition law and competition law serve to the protection of competition as an institution from different aspects.

Competition law and intellectual property rights (IPRs) have evolved historically as two separate systems of law. There is a considerable overlap in the goals of the two systems of law because both are aimed at promoting innovation and economic growth. Yet there are also potential conflicts owing to the means used by each system to promote those goals. IP laws generally offer a right of exclusive use and exploitation to provide a reward to the innovator, to provide an incentive to other innovators and to bring into the public domain innovative information that might otherwise remain trade secrets. Competition authorities regulate near monopolies, mergers and commercial agreements with the aim of maintaining effective competition in markets. This article introduces the concept of IPRs and Competition law. It highlights important areas of conflict between the two laws and also deals with the Indian antitrust law. It concludes by trying to harmonize the conflicts.

L'objectif poursuivi par la Commission européenne à travers la réglementation de la concurrence consiste en l'intégration des marchés nationaux en un marché communautaire unique. À cet effet, l'exécutif européen a très tôt érigé le secteur automobile en vecteur privilégié de cette unification, établissant un régime concurrentiel des restrictions verticales insérées dans les accords de production et de distribution automobile plus efficient que ne l'est le régime général des restrictions verticales. Désireuse, dans un premier temps, d'appréhender toujours plus finement les réalités économiques du secteur, la Commission a par la suite pris conscience de l'importance des services après-vente dans le processus concurrentiel. Il y a alors là les deux pans du régime automobile. D'une part, une appréhension de la conjoncture économique du secteur, d'autre part une prise en compte de la nature complexe du bien automobile. Cette dernière, commune à tous les biens intégrant des droits intellectuels et auxquels sont intrinsèquement liés des services après-vente, justifie donc des règles de concurrence particulières ne bénéficiant pourtant qu'au seul bien automobile. L'objectif de ce travail de recherche s'est alors axé sur la distinction des deux pans du régime automobile afin d'identifier les dispositions commandées par la nature complexe, pour ensuite proposer leur application à l'ensemble des biens complexes.

A transferência internacional de tecnologia é operação que serve como base para o desenvolvimento tecnológico. Muito além da dicotomia desenvolvimento autóctone versus importação de tecnologia, verificamos que a importação de tecnologia é, também, geradora de parte das condições precedentes para o desenvolvimento de inovação localmente. Componente-chave de qualquer processo de transferência de tecnologia é a efetiva transferência de habilidades e know-how intangível que assegurem a capacidade produtiva. O canal de transferência de tecnologia não é uma forma fácil de construir capacidade de inovação. Por meio deste, as conseqüências da transferência de tecnologia serão determinadas pelos objetivos gerais das corporações que contratam, os quais certamente não englobam a disseminação da tecnologia para potenciais concorrentes. Dentro do contexto de conflito tecnológico norte-sul ainda existente, a harmonização do direito da concorrência e da propriedade intelectual em torno do interesse coletivo concentra-se justamente na administração da intenção dos países detentores da tecnologia de manter o seu monopólio e acesso restrito à tecnologia e o dos países receptores de terem amplo acesso e utilização da tecnologia. A política de intensificação da transferência de tecnologia internacional depende não somente de políticas regionais e internacionais, mas também de políticas nacionais. É preciso analisar caminhos viáveis para as políticas dentro da moldura nacional e internacional existente. A industrialização brasileira orientou-se no sentido de gerar capacidade produtiva com adoção de padrões tecnológicos relativamente atrasados e imposição de elevadas barreiras à entrada, impactando significativamente a capacidade do país de gerar, transferir e introduzir inovações tecnológicas. A regulação da transferência de tecnologia que a acompanhou tinha como vetores principais a substituição de importações paralelamente a controles fiscais e cambiais dos pagamentos das contratações, como forma de promover o equilíbrio da balança de pagamentos do país. Esta permanece em vigor, com alterações mínimas. Ao Governo cabe delinear de forma mais clara em sua política industrial o tipo e maneira de controles que pretende exercer sobre a importação de tecnologia para o país, e com qual finalidade. Adicionalmente, é preciso promover uma harmonização dos vários diplomas legais incidentes na operação para que expressem coerência entre si. A coerência será atingida na medida em que se escolham os vetores definidores da regulação de forma consistente. A regulação deve concentrar-se na absorção da técnica pela mão-de-obra local, sem desestimular o fornecedor estrangeiro. Ambos objetivos serão atingidos com a (i) matização da regulação na área tributária e cambial e a (ii) promoção de maior interatividade entre a regulação pela propriedade industrial e o direito concorrencial, que devem focar nos termos das contratações. Quanto à política da concorrência, é preciso distinguir entre uma política de concorrência baseada somente em inovação e aquela baseada em disseminação da inovação. Quando se foca somente na inovação e se impede a disseminação, esquece-se de que o bônus que se concede hoje à inovação implicará um preço no futuro. Uma política de concorrência com a intenção de promover a disseminação e absorção de tecnologia não pode ser tarefa para as autoridades da área concorrencial, somente.

Indisponible

Face à l’urgence de diminuer les dépenses de santé, le développement des médicaments génériques, moins chers que les médicaments de marque, a été fortement encouragé tant par les institutions communautaires que par les pouvoirs publics nationaux. Le droit de la concurrence accompagne et protège le bon développement des marchés de ces produits. Les règles de concurrence protégent aussi bien la liberté de la concurrence que les intérêts individuels des opérateurs sur ces marchés. La sauvegarde de la liberté de la concurrence est assurée notamment par la sanction de certaines stratégies, adoptées par les laboratoires innovants, qui découragent ou retardent indûment l’entrée des génériques sur le marché. Les intérêts individuels des opérateurs sont préservés notamment par la possibilité d’agir en concurrence déloyale. L’application des règles de concurrence n’est cependant pas aisée et suscite bien des interrogations. L’éventuelle application des règles communautaires relatives aux aides d’Etat à certaines mesures favorisant les génériques au détriment des princeps ou encore la problématique de l’équilibre entre les règles de concurrence et celles de propriété industrielle sont autant de questions qui seront tranchées par les autorités et les juridictions dans les mois et années à venir. Dans les relations entre les médicaments génériques et le droit de la concurrence, les premiers ont aussi un rôle à jouer car ils contribuent non seulement à l’élargissement du champ d’application de ce droit mais également à son évolution à travers notamment l’identification de nouvelles pratiques abusives.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the significance of economic thinking and arguments in the treatment of licence agreements in EC competition law. A central question is to what degree the concept of competition in EC law reflects an economically realistic approach to competition. The study also investigates to what degree the economic functioning of intellectual property is considered in competition regulation and how much the economic functioning of the licence agreement is considered. The investigation mainly consists of a comparative analysis of EC competition law and American antitrust law concerning the economic arguments and their importance. The treatment of territorial restrictions, field of use restrictions, quantity clauses, tie-outs, tie-ins, grant back, no-challenge clauses and price restrictions are of special interest here. This study shows that an economically realistic view of competition has influenced current EC competition law, especially in the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER). Exceptions from this development in the EC law are mainly due to the goal of integration of the common market. Territorial restrictions are strictly regulated in the TTBER even when the parties’ market shares are below the market thresholds defined in the regulation. The function of intellectual property rights are not much considered in EC competition law but there are general remarks about the economic functioning of patents in the Guidelines for the TTBER. However, it is difficult to find evidence for economic reasoning about patents in the formation of concrete rules. On the contrary, patents are weakened by the widened concept of exhaustion presented in the Guidelines. The economic functioning of the licence agreement is considered in the rules of TTBER and the economic arguments for clauses which create incentives for making investments or give the possibility of control are acknowledged. However, the free riding argument has a weak position when applied to territorial restrictions, which are more formalistically regulated. The EC competition law has become more similar to American antitrust law. The decisive difference consists in the judicial treatment of territorial restrictions, where the goal of integration is still of central importance in EC law.

L'échec de l'UDEAC et des politiques communes destinées à réaliser l'union douanière entre les Etats de l'Afrique centrale a poussé ces derniers à remettre en question toutes les politiques d'intégration économique engagées depuis leur accession à la souveraineté internationale. L'analyse des causes de cet échec les a ainsi conduit non à abandonner l'idéal communautaire, mais à relancer ce dernier sur de nouvelles bases, dans l'objectif de mettre en place, à moyen terme, un marché commun au sein duquel la libre circulation des facteurs de production ainsi qu'une saine et loyale concurrence entre acteurs économiques étaient garanties. Cet objectif ambitieux d'unification, loin de construire ses fondations sur des instruments purement économiques - lesquels ont montré toutes leurs limites avec l'UDEAC - a décidé de faire du droit l'instrument principal devant garantir son succès. Cette nouvelle approche s'inscrit en fait dans la droite ligne du nouveau régionalisme juridique ayant cours au niveau planétaire depuis quelques années. Ainsi, en quelques années, parallèlement aux règles institutionnelles, un droit matériel a été mis en place, dans l'objectif de faciliter la mise en œuvre des objectifs poursuivis par les pays membres de la CEMAC. Les règles destinées à décloisonner les marchés nationaux et devant aboutir à la mise en place d'un marché intérieur de dimension plus importante et la garantie d'une saine et loyale concurrence entre les acteurs de ce marché, grâce aux techniques juridiques d'harmonisation et de coordination législatives, sont logiquement apparues comme urgentes dans l'ambition de sécurisation sous-régionale des affaires engagée dans le cadre de l'uniformisation du droit économique sous-régional portée depuis 1993 par l'Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA). L'adoption des règles régissant le fonctionnement de ce marché intérieur, notamment celles garantissant la libre circulation des biens, des personnes, des services et des capitaux ainsi que la consécration d'un droit communautaire de la concurrence apparaissent donc comme les prémisses du renouveau d'un régionalisme porteur de développement et de bien-être en Afrique centrale. La juridictionnalisation amorcée de cette entreprise commune apparaît également comme annonciatrice d'une nouvelle ère dans la sous-région.

In order to be more attractive to foreign investments, the Western African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) have recently issued regional regulations on economic competition. Largely inspired by the European Community competition law, these regulations tend to propose adapted rules in the specific African context. The rising community competition law in Africa is surprising to some extent: where unlawful practices are defined on the European community law basis, a typical pattern is built to ensure fair competition practices, with the private economic forces contributing to this enforcement; but the model sometimes remains open to criticism as regarding the fundamental treaties or some local problems.

The dissertation addresses the problem of how conflicts between the Swedish Competition Act (SFS 1993:20) and anti-competitive state regulations are to be solved. The study focuses on the legal situation in Sweden after 1993, when a new competition law was enacted and after the Swedish Membership of the European Union 1995. A comparative survey of how similar conflicts are solved in American Law, EU Law and Danish Law is made. The rationale behind the reform of the competition legislation in Sweden was the consideration that competition did not work well enough on Swedish markets. One important reason for this was thought to be the existence of regulations with a negative impact on competition. The solution of the problem was thought to reside in the adjustment of the Swedish competition legislation to the rules of the European Community (EC). After this substantial legal reform, a change in how anti-competitive regulations are dealt with could be expected. This study shows, however, that there has been practically no change at all. When conflicts between the Competition Act and anti-competitive regulations do occur, the Swedish Competition Authority evaluates the applicability of the regulation to see if a conflict really is at hand. In this legal process it is suggested that the regulation and not the Competition Act should be interpreted narrowly. This study shows that such a restrictive approach can be justified when taking the relevant sources of law into account. In cases where a disturbance to competition is the direct and necessary consequence of a clear regulation – with due considerations to EC Law – the regulation prevails. When these conditions are not at hand, it can be justified to give priority to the Competition Act.

Instruments de politique économique, le droit de la concurrence et le droit de la consommation sont classiquement définis par les finalités économiques qu'ils servent. Cette définition n'est pas sans soulever des difficultés qui conduisent à s'interroger sur la pertinence d'une telle définition. Une autre méthode, juridique, peut être employée. Appliquée au concept d'abus dans ces droits, elle permet de révéler certains principes juridiques communs qu'ils utilisent. La définition des droits naît alors de la combinaison de ces deux approches. L'unité substantielle de certaines de leurs règles est renforcée par une unité matérielle. Ce constat permet tout à la fois de mieux comprendre leur fonctionnement et de déterminer leur place à l'égard du droit commun.