EU Court Upholds Microsoft Competition Ruling

From the EU Court of First Instance ruling today upholding Commission's large fine and its finding of abuse of dominant position regarding IP:

It is only when it is accompanied by exceptional circumstances such as those hitherto envisaged in the case-law that such a refusal can be characterised as abusive and that, accordingly, it is permissible, in the public interest in maintaining effective competition on the market, to encroach upon the exclusive right of the holder of the intellectual property right by requiring him to grant licences to third parties seeking to enter or remain on that market. It must be borne in mind that it has been established above that such exceptional circumstances were present in this case. (para. 691)

Here's a good article from the IHT.

Here's the CFI decision itself and the Court's press release.

And here's the response from Microsoft's top lawyer and Senior VP, Brad Smith.

It will be interesting to see if antitrust/competition law enforcement in intellectual property ever gets back on track in Canada.

HK