THE IMPACT OF DISTRIBUTION RIGHT IN THE MARKET COMPETITION OF ALBANIA
Gerdupi, Ili (2019-11-12)
THE IMPACT OF DISTRIBUTION RIGHT IN THE MARKET COMPETITION OF ALBANIA
Gerdupi, Ili
(12.11.2019)
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
suljettu
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2019112544215
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2019112544215
Tiivistelmä
The authorization of sale or distribution right, is an ambiguous right given to the owner of an intellectual property right used to allow or deny third party to sell the right owner’s goods in a particular area or country.
Depending on the right’s owner and the authorized distributor, the distribution right can interchangeable be exclusive or non-exclusive. The legislation of a specific country may offer a firm protection of this right through making an authorization for the country obligatory or imposing harsh penalties such as including the infringement as a criminal offence, or it may apply a more tolerant approach and allow the import of products that were authorized for sale in another country leaving any claim for infringement to be resolved by the parties.
Competition concerns arise every time an exclusive right is given to one company, that impedes the other companies’ ability to operate in the market. A company that would obtain several authorizations of replacing goods, would have a high risk of abusing the dominant position acquired from the authorizations.
The thesis focuses on Albania, a country requiring an authorization from the right owner to introduce goods in the circulation of the national market, where the violations of the distribution right are included as a criminal offence. Due to the relatively small in size of the Albanian market, and its dependency on imports, importers play an important role in procuring the everyday goods.
To support the effects of the exhaustion right in the competition level, a comparison is drawn with Croatia, a country applying national exhaustion before becoming a member of the European Union and be required to adopt regional exhaustion. Hypothetical cases are given to show how different authorizations affect a specific scenario of dominance in a market.
The effects of the criminalization of intellectual property rights are analyzed on the empowerment the position of the authorized distributor and deteriorate the competition. An overview is given of the effects of including violation of distribution right as a criminal offence based on the available case laws.
The thesis tries to argue whether the national exhaustion of the distribution right affects the market competition and potential measures that can be taken in case competition concerns are raised. The actions of the government institution are limited due to the nature of the distribution right. The country should explore the alternative of expanding the scope of exhaustion applied to improve the conditions of competitions and enhance free trade.
Depending on the right’s owner and the authorized distributor, the distribution right can interchangeable be exclusive or non-exclusive. The legislation of a specific country may offer a firm protection of this right through making an authorization for the country obligatory or imposing harsh penalties such as including the infringement as a criminal offence, or it may apply a more tolerant approach and allow the import of products that were authorized for sale in another country leaving any claim for infringement to be resolved by the parties.
Competition concerns arise every time an exclusive right is given to one company, that impedes the other companies’ ability to operate in the market. A company that would obtain several authorizations of replacing goods, would have a high risk of abusing the dominant position acquired from the authorizations.
The thesis focuses on Albania, a country requiring an authorization from the right owner to introduce goods in the circulation of the national market, where the violations of the distribution right are included as a criminal offence. Due to the relatively small in size of the Albanian market, and its dependency on imports, importers play an important role in procuring the everyday goods.
To support the effects of the exhaustion right in the competition level, a comparison is drawn with Croatia, a country applying national exhaustion before becoming a member of the European Union and be required to adopt regional exhaustion. Hypothetical cases are given to show how different authorizations affect a specific scenario of dominance in a market.
The effects of the criminalization of intellectual property rights are analyzed on the empowerment the position of the authorized distributor and deteriorate the competition. An overview is given of the effects of including violation of distribution right as a criminal offence based on the available case laws.
The thesis tries to argue whether the national exhaustion of the distribution right affects the market competition and potential measures that can be taken in case competition concerns are raised. The actions of the government institution are limited due to the nature of the distribution right. The country should explore the alternative of expanding the scope of exhaustion applied to improve the conditions of competitions and enhance free trade.