China’s adoption of the Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”) is a landmark in the evolution of China’s economic transformation. The AML was a carefully thought-out, negotiated, strategic development dictated by the central government, and the culmination of a process that started almost twenty years ago. China has moved from a centrally planned command economy to one that is largely a free market economy, despite the existence of state-owned enterprises as major players. The AML is the ultimate recognition on the part of the Chinese government that free and fair competition in the market place is in the essential interest of the Chinese people.
Continue Reading Antitrust Enforcement in China: Understanding the Framework of the Anti-Monopoly Law

This past November and December, the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and European Commission (“EC”) cleared Microsoft Corporation’s (“Microsoft”) acquisition of the bulk of the devices and services business of Nokia Corporation of Finland (“Nokia”) without any conditions. In contrast, on April 8, 2014, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) approved the acquisition subject to conditions that include an intellectual property issue that is still to be resolved in the US, EU and other countries: whether holders of standard essential patents (“SEPs”) who make licensing commitments under fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (“FRAND”) terms should be barred from seeking injunctive relief against alleged infringers of their patents.  MOFCOM’s conditional approval is not controversial for this specific transaction, but raises the question of how MOFCOM’s treatment of this issue will be interpreted in future merger reviews and whether this will affect investigations related to anticompetitive conduct.
Continue Reading Microsoft-Nokia: China’s MOFCOM Quietly Slips Into the Debate about Injunctive Relief for FRAND-encumbered SEPs