'Unfair pricing' under EC competition law

Abstract

This thesis aims to explain the meaning of the term unfair pricing within Article 102 TFEU. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of what is meant by the term competition and define the terms "undertaking", "dominance" and "abuse". This chapter will go through all the types of abuses that are found within Article 102TFEU and how such abuses have been tackled by the Court and by the Commission. Chapter 2 defines what is meant by the term 'unfair pricing' and will target the first category of abuse that has been explained in decisional practice and case law. In Chapter 3, the main focus will be on the application of the EC competition rules, with a particular emphasis on Article 102TEFU, to IPR licensing agreements. This chapter will also tackle the claims of excessive pricing in IPRs and the case law that have been tackled by the Commission and by the Court. Chapter 4, will describe the non intervention approach to unfair pricing and the main focus is focused on the three grounds for non-intervention. In Chapter 5, contrary to the non intervention approach, this chapter will show the intervention approach that is adopted in the European Union with regards to unfair pricing. Finally, this chapter will show how certain cases of excessive pricing in the U.S. could be dealt with as inter-temporal price discrimination under the Robinson Patman Act. Chapter 6 will then serve as the concluding part of this thesis.