ARTICLE · 24 APRIL 2002

Brick Wall Stands Firm

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP

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United KingdomIntellectual Property

Rachel Montagnon

ECJ maintains position against Commission's imposition of compulsory licence of intellectual property rights

Summary

The European Court of Justice has confirmed that in the context of intellectual property rights the Commission does not have an automatic right to impose interim measures when it considers that there may have been a breach of competition law.

In its ruling last week the ECJ rejected an appeal against the European Court of First Instance's decision to suspend an interim measure previously imposed by the Commission. The Commission had ordered copyright owner IMS Health ("IMS") to licence its "1860 brick structure" system to two companies wishing to compete with IMS in the German market.

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