How should the experimental use mechanism be designed in order to maintain the proper balance between the rights of patent holders and the rights retained by the public? The work explores various approaches towards the experimental use exemption in influential regions, such as US UK Germany Japan as well as in international treaties. In each of these systems some degree of vulnerability is found. Either exemption is too narrow or too broad and lacking a dynamic dimension. Therefore, the work sets out to design a dynamic and multi-step experimental use mechanism. The work proposes to view the experimental use mechanism as a right provided to the public and in turn as a duty imposed on the patent holder to suggest path/s of exploration with regard to the patented invention. This approach significantly strengthens the experimental use mechanism as it becomes part of the bundle of requirements that an inventor needs to comply with in order to obtain a patent grant. The scope of the experimental use mechanism will be determined by a three step process. In the first stage the positions and interests of the inventor, invention and researcher will be taken into account in order to determine the incentives needed to cause inventors to stay within the patent system and at the same time prevent researches from migrating to other regions. In the second stage the scope of the experimental use mechanism will be impacted by the determination whether either party adopted anticompetitive behavior. The final step will inquire whether the invention or the research is geared at improving public health. In these instances there will be a tendency to increase the scope of the experimental use mechanism due to the internationally recognized right to health and its global importance. The work incorporates concepts from different legal fields such as competition law and health policy as well as from other disciplines including economics and psychology The three step process has the potential of designing a dynamic and robust experimental use mechanism which may prove to be useful in other patent settings such as the holdup problem or blocking patents. Incorporating a flexible experimental use mechanism may diminish the attempts of patent holders to act opportunistically and curtail the rights of the public. Thus, the work contributes to the current state of the experimental use debate and towards achieving the proper balance between the rights of the patent holder and the rights of the public.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / Philip G. Gayle / This dissertation constitutes two essays in the field of industrial organization. Specifically, the research focuses on empirically assessing the market effects of airline alliances. The first essay examines how codesharing, a form of strategic alliances, by airlines affects market entry decisions of potential competitors. Researchers have written extensively on the impact that strategic alliances between airlines have on airfare, but little is known of the market entry deterrent impact of strategic alliances. Using a structural econometric model, this essay examines the market entry deterrent impact of codesharing between incumbent carriers in U.S. domestic air travel markets. We find that a specific type of codesharing between market incumbents has a market entry deterrent effect to Southwest Airlines, but not other potential entrants. Furthermore, we quantify the extent to which market incumbents’ codesharing influences market entry cost of potential entrants. The second essay examines the effects of granting Antitrust Immunity (ATI) to a group of airlines. Airline alliance partners often want to extend cooperation to revenue sharing, which effectively implies joint pricing of their products (explicit price collusion). To explicitly collude on price, airlines must apply to the relevant government authorities for ATI (U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Transportation in the case of air travel markets that have a U.S. airport as an endpoint), which effectively means an exemption from prosecution under the relevant antitrust laws. Whether consumers, on net, benefit from a grant of ATI to partner airlines has caused much public debate. This essay specifically investigates the impact of granting ATI to oneworld alliance members on their price, markup, and various measures of cost. The evidence suggests that the grant of ATI facilitated a decrease in partner carriers’ marginal cost, and increased (decreased) their markup in markets where their service do (do not) overlap. Furthermore, member carriers’ price did not change (decreased) in markets where their services do (do not) overlap, implying that consumers, on net, benefit in terms of price changes.

Master of Arts / Department of Economics / Yang-Ming Chang / This report examines merger incentives of cost asymmetric firms under product differentiation and their welfare implications. Considering a simple contract under which merger profit is distributed according to the proportions of differential marginal costs between duopolistic firms, we show in a stylized model that for almost all parameter ranges (in terms of market competition intensity and marginal cost differential), a low-cost firm may have no incentive to merge with a high-cost firm whereas the high-cost firm always finds merger to be profitable. Only when marginal cost differential is sufficiently low and the degree of product similarity is sufficiently high will both the low-cost firm and the high-cost firm share the common interest in merger. On the other hand, the merger equilibrium is not welfare-improving, regardless of whether the firms initially compete in quantities or prices. Viewed from the perspective of production efficiency, mergers with differentiated products thus create a fundamental conflict between the maximization of consumer and social welfare and the maximization of firm profits. We also examine the scenario that merger takes place when merger profit exceeds the sum of firm profits under duopoly, without considering how merger profit is distributed between the firms. We discuss the conditions under which mergers may or may not be welfare-improving.

<p>The dissertation consists of three chapters related to the low-price guarantee marketing strategy and energy efficiency analysis. The low-price guarantee is a marketing strategy in which firms promise to charge consumers the lowest price among their competitors. Chapter 1 addresses the research question "Does a Low-Price Guarantee Induce Lower Prices'' by looking into the retail gasoline industry in Quebec where there was a major branded firm which started a low-price guarantee back in 1996. Chapter 2 does a consumer welfare analysis of low-price guarantees to drive police indications and offers a new explanation of the firms' incentives to adopt a low-price guarantee. Chapter 3 develops the energy performance indicators (EPIs) to measure energy efficiency of the manufacturing plants in pulp, paper and paperboard industry.</p><p>Chapter 1 revisits the traditional view that a low-price guarantee results in higher prices by facilitating collusion. Using accurate market definitions and station-level data from the retail gasoline industry in Quebec, I conducted a descriptive analysis based on stations and price zones to compare the price and sales movement before and after the guarantee was adopted. I find that, contrary to the traditional view, the stores that offered the guarantee significantly decreased their prices and increased their sales. I also build a difference-in-difference model to quantify the decrease in posted price of the stores that offered the guarantee to be 0.7 cents per liter. While this change is significant, I do not find the response in comeptitors' prices to be significant. The sales of the stores that offered the guarantee increased significantly while the competitors' sales decreased significantly. However, the significance vanishes if I use the station clustered standard errors. Comparing my observations and the predictions of different theories of modeling low-price guarantees, I conclude the empirical evidence here supports that the low-price guarantee is a simple commitment device and induces lower prices. </p><p>Chapter 2 conducts a consumer welfare analysis of low-price guarantees to address the antitrust concerns and potential regulations from the government; explains the firms' potential incentives to adopt a low-price guarantee. Using station-level data from the retail gasoline industry in Quebec, I estimated consumers' demand of gasoline by a structural model with spatial competition incorporating the low-price guarantee as a commitment device, which allows firms to pre-commit to charge the lowest price among their competitors. The counterfactual analysis under the Bertrand competition setting shows that the stores that offered the guarantee attracted a lot more consumers and decreased their posted price by 0.6 cents per liter. Although the matching stores suffered a decrease in profits from gasoline sales, they are incentivized to adopt the low-price guarantee to attract more consumers to visit the store likely increasing profits at attached convenience stores. Firms have strong incentives to adopt a low-price guarantee on the product that their consumers are most price-sensitive about, while earning a profit from the products that are not covered in the guarantee. I estimate that consumers earn about 0.3% more surplus when the low-price guarantee is in place, which suggests that the authorities should not be concerned and regulate low-price guarantees. In Appendix B, I also propose an empirical model to look into how low-price guarantees would change consumer search behavior and whether consumer search plays an important role in estimating consumer surplus accurately.</p><p>Chapter 3, joint with Gale Boyd, describes work with the pulp, paper, and paperboard (PP&PB) industry to provide a plant-level indicator of energy efficiency for facilities that produce various types of paper products in the United States. Organizations that implement strategic energy management programs undertake a set of activities that, if carried out properly, have the potential to deliver sustained energy savings. Energy performance benchmarking is a key activity of strategic energy management and one way to enable companies to set energy efficiency targets for manufacturing facilities. The opportunity to assess plant energy performance through a comparison with similar plants in its industry is a highly desirable and strategic method of benchmarking for industrial energy managers. However, access to energy performance data for conducting industry benchmarking is usually unavailable to most industrial energy managers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its ENERGY STAR program, seeks to overcome this barrier through the development of manufacturing sector-based plant energy performance indicators (EPIs) that encourage U.S. industries to use energy more efficiently. In the development of the energy performance indicator tools, consideration is given to the role that performance-based indicators play in motivating change; the steps necessary for indicator development, from interacting with an industry in securing adequate data for the indicator; and actual application and use of an indicator when complete. How indicators are employed in EPA’s efforts to encourage industries to voluntarily improve their use of energy is discussed as well. The chapter describes the data and statistical methods used to construct the EPI for plants within selected segments of the pulp, paper, and paperboard industry: specifically pulp mills and integrated paper & paperboard mills. The individual equations are presented, as are the instructions for using those equations as implemented in an associated Microsoft Excel-based spreadsheet tool.</p> / Dissertation

The main goal of this diploma thesis is to evaluate the protection of competition in the European Union. For this purpose in EU serves competition policy, whose application is in charge of the European Commission. During my research I chose to examine the IT industry, particularly on the Microsoft case, which became one of the most significant antitrust disputes over the past years. In the thesis I compare competition policy framework with the theoretical approaches of various economic schools. Then I monitor the Commission's investigation and I discuss the legitimacy of the accusations and actions. I conclude that the EU competition policy has significant flaws in its application. I find that the European Commission is trying to reduce Microsoft's market power at all costs because when I compare Commission's attitude to other companies with identical behavior, it is completely different.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar os possíveis reflexos da política de nomeações para o Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE) sobre sua autonomia, entendida aqui como a tomada de decisões que o órgão, livre de interferências do governo, julga como tecnicamente corretas. Para tanto, analisamos as características institucionais do CADE que fazem da política de nomeações o principal mecanismo de controle à disposição do Poder Executivo para manter algum grau de controle sobre as decisões tomadas pelo órgão. Constatamos que, no CADE, ao contrário do que ocorre nas agências reguladoras setoriais, os mandatos são demasiado curtos. Somada à possibilidade de recondução, essa característica institucional permite ao Executivo substituir rapidamente reguladores que se mostrem pouco dispostos a cooperar com ele. Indo além, analisamos também o perfil profissional das indicações governamentais realizadas desde o início da década de 1990 até 2010. A análise dos perfis dos reguladores é útil à compreensão de suas preferências e dos incentivos que possuem para atender, ou não, a reivindicações políticas. A análise desses perfis sugere que, para manter as decisões do CADE minimamente alinhadas às suas preferências, o Executivo tem contado principalmente com o apoio de atores estatais, isso é, de conselheiros do CADE recrutados das fileiras do próprio Estado. A conjugação da análise das características institucionais do CADE com o perfil profissional dos indicados indica que, no período coberto pelo estudo, as condições para o funcionamento autônomo do órgão não estiveram plenamente garantidas. / The research analyzes the impacts of political appointments on the autonomy of Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE), the Brazilian antitrust agency. Autonomy makes reference to CADEs decisions that are taken without government interference. In this context, we analyze why CADEs decisions are vulnerable to political appointments. Our assessment reveals that short mandates that can be renewed are the main reason for that. Once the mandates are short, government is able to change the entire composition of CADEs floor in order to build a majority made of allies. Going further, we analyze the professional profile of CADEs counselors between the beginning of 1990s and 2010. The analysis is useful to understand which kind of counselor is willing to attend government demands. Our findings suggest that state actors have strong incentives to cooperate with government. In the end, we state that the combination between short mandates that can be renewed and the nomination of state actors to CADEs floor has been putting CADEs autonomy in danger.

A presente pesquisa buscou avaliar se o direito da concorrência, tal como edificado no presente, tem-se revelado suficiente para alcançar o fenômeno concorrencial de modo efetivo e, portanto, se estaria, de fato, a realizar sua missão no sentido de contribuir para o desenvolvimento e para a democracia. Objetivou-se demonstrar que os mecanismos convencionais de defesa da concorrência (controle de condutas e de atos de concentração) seriam incapazes de fazer frente à crescente concentração dos mercados e à eliminação ou mesmo redução de distorções competitivas ocasionadas, ainda que indiretamente, pelo próprio Estado. Demonstrou-se que estes problemas estariam a impactar a própria ideia de democracia e colocariam em risco o desenvolvimento econômico e social. A partir do referencial teórico utilizado, procurou-se evidenciar esta incapacidade do antitruste em acompanhar a velocidade de mercados cada vez mais dinâmicos, bem como alcançar todos os problemas concorrenciais, especialmente, aqueles ocasionados por meios não-convencionais, isto é, por mecanismos de diferenciação de produtos, por práticas apoiadas em facilitações institucionais, subsídios estatais, obtenção de vantagens por influência no processo legislativo e, entre outros, por meio de decisões administrativas e/ou regulatórias. A competition advocacy (promoção da concorrência) foi apresentada como uma das respostas possíveis do direito para mitigar o risco de que a excessiva concentração do poder econômico acabe gerando o bloqueio de canais democráticos, a captura das instituições políticas por grupos dominantes e, ainda que reflexamente, o aumento da desigualdade. Considerando que a competition advocacy parte de uma ideia residual ou de exclusão em relação à função preventiva e à repressiva, a pesquisa identificou quais seriam os assuntos adequados para uma abordagem sistêmica e, principalmente, útil da promoção da concorrência, tendo em vista, especialmente, o tratamento ainda difuso do tema por parte da doutrina. Em conclusão, buscou-se definir, com maior precisão, o conteúdo jurídico da promoção da concorrência e foram apresentadas propostas para aperfeiçoamento do instituto no Brasil, de modo a contribuir para o desenvolvimento econômico-social e para o fortalecimento das instituições democráticas. / This work intended to evaluate whether competition law, as built in the present, has proved to be sufficient to reach the competitive phenomenon in an effective way and, therefore, if it achieves its mission, that is, to contribute to the development and democracy. It also aimed to demonstrate that competition law´s conventional tools (enforcement mechanisms) would be unable to cope with the growing concentration of markets and the elimination or even reduction of competitive distortions indirectly caused by the State itself. It has been shown that these problems are impacting on a democracy ideal and jeopardizing economic and social development. From the theoretical framework used, this antitrust inability was observed, to monitor the speed of increasingly dynamic markets, as well as to reach all competitive problems, especially those caused by non-conventional means, that is, by mechanisms of differentiation of products, malpractices supported by institutions, state subsidies, obtaining advantages by influence in the legislative process and, among others, through administrative and/ or regulatory decisions. Competition advocacy was presented as one of the possible answers to diminish the risk that the excessive concentration of economic power would end up blocking democratic channels, resulting on the capture of political institutions by dominant groups, and even if at an indirect way, increasing inequality. Considering that competition advocacy is based on a residual idea of the preventive and repressive functions, the dissertation identified what would be the appropriate subjects for systemic and useful approach to promoting competition, specially, due to the still diffuse treatment of the subject by the doctrine. In conclusion, we tried to define the legal content of the competition advocacy. We made also proposals for the improvement of the subject in brazil in order to contribute to economic and social development as well as to the strengthening of democratic institutions.

O trabalho discute o problema da concentração dos meios de comunicação social no Brasil. A preocupação inicial está voltada para a análise da realidade do setor de mídia brasileiro. Procura-se, por meio de estudo interdisciplinar, identificar os traços essenciais da formação econômica e política da sociedade brasileira, apresentar algumas notas sobre a evolução histórica do processo de concentração de poder no setor de comunicação social e traçar um retrato da concentração da mídia brasileira. Em seguida, pretende-se desenvolver uma reflexão crítica sobre a realidade brasileira. Partindo do enunciado de algumas hipóteses de caráter axiológico-normativo relativas à organização do setor de comunicação social, procura-se avaliar a robustez de tais premissas. Nesse contexto, avalia-se a importância de valores como a difusão do conhecimento para a promoção do desenvolvimento e o pluralismo de idéias e opiniões para o debate na esfera pública e a vitalidade da democracia. Também são estudados os princípios estabelecidos pela Constituição Federal relativos à organização do setor de comunicação social. Esses valores democráticos e princípios constitucionais servem de base para a construção de uma visão crítica das estruturas concentradas de poder existentes no setor de mídia. A última parte do trabalho possui nítido caráter normativo, na medida em que pretende sugerir mecanismos jurídicos voltados a para transformação da realidade. Pretende-se, em primeiro lugar, esboçar as grandes linhas de uma teoria geral do pluralismo no setor de mídia. Em seguida, busca-se avaliar os posicionamentos teóricos relativos à teoria da regulação e ao direito concorrencial que representam um entrave à configuração pluralista do setor de mídia. Na seqüência, abre-se um parêntese na exposição para analisar criticamente a contribuição da tecnologia como fator de promoção do pluralismo e democratização da mídia. Por fim, procura-se sugerir e analisar propostas regulatórias e de modificação do paradigma interpretativo do direito concorrencial, voltadas para a promoção do pluralismo externo e interno no setor de comunicação social. / This work discusses the problem of media concentration in Brazil. The initial focus is on the analysis of the reality of the Brazilian media sector. It is sought, through an interdisciplinary study, to identify the essential traits of the economic and political formation of Brazilian society, present some notes about the historical development of the concentration process in the social communication sector and depict the concentration of the Brazilian media. Next, it is sought to develop a critical reflection on the Brazilian reality. Based on the enunciation of certain hypotheses of an axiological-normative nature concerning the organization of the social communication sector, it is sought to evaluate the strength of such assumptions. In this context, the importance of such values as the diffusion of knowledge to promote development, the pluralism of ideas and opinions for the debate in the public sphere and the vitality of democracy are evaluated. Also studied are the principles established by the Federal Constitution in respect of the organization of the social communication sector. These democratic values and constitutional principles serve as a basis for the construction of a critical view of the concentrated structures existing in the media sector. The last part of this work is of a distinctly normative nature, to the extent that it suggests legal mechanisms designed to transform this reality. It is then sought, in the first place, to provide the broad outlines of a general theory of pluralism in the media sector. Next, an evaluation is made of the theoretical positions relating to the theory of regulation and the competition law that represent a hindrance to the pluralist configuration of the media sector. Following this, a digression is made in the exposition to critically analyze the contribution of technology as a promoting factor of the pluralism and democratization of the media. Finally, it is sought to suggest and analyze proposals of regulation measures and of modification of the interpretative paradigm of competition law, aimed at the promotion of external and internal pluralism in the social communication sector.

A presente tese de doutorado tem como objetivo a análise da interface entre propriedade intelectual e direito da concorrência no contexto do enquadramento jurídico oferecido pelo Acordo sobre Aspectos de Direitos de Propriedade Intelectual Relacionados ao Comércio Acordo TRIPS da Organização Mundial do Comércio OMC. As disposições relevantes sobre concorrência foram incluídas no Artigo 8.2, que autoriza os Membros a adotarem medidas apropriadas para evitar abusos dos direitos de propriedade intelectual e práticas que restrinjam o comércio e a transferência internacional de tecnologia; no Artigo 40, que dispõe sobre o controle das práticas restritivas em acordos de licenciamento; e no Artigo 31(k), que trata do licenciamento compulsório de patentes para remediar práticas anticoncorrenciais. Essas disposições acabaram sendo incluídas no Acordo TRIPS como resultado de concessões feitas pelos países desenvolvidos aos países em desenvolvimento, em troca do fortalecimento dos padrões mínimos de proteção dos direitos de propriedade intelectual, podendo, portanto, ser consideradas no contexto das flexibilidades constantes no Acordo. No entanto, ainda que essas disposições representem um elemento essencial de equilíbrio, também deixaram importantes questões sem resposta. Além de serem vagas, não fornecem diretrizes adequadas para os países em desenvolvimento implementarem políticas públicas nacionais para coibir práticas restritivas da concorrência relacionadas à exploração de direitos de propriedade intelectual. Assim, enquanto os países mais industrializados possuem autoridades antitruste e tribunais com sólida experiência e recursos necessários para lidar com questões envolvendo a interface entre propriedade intelectual e direito da concorrência, os países em desenvolvimento, em sua maioria, mesmo possuindo leis antitruste nacionais, ainda não adquiriram a experiência e capacitação para tratar de tema tão complexo. Desse modo, a tese deverá abordar as circunstâncias nas quais eventuais abusos de direitos de propriedade intelectual podem restringir a livre concorrência nos mercados, com ênfase nas práticas restritivas em acordos de licenciamento, pools de patentes e licenças cruzadas, bem como nas condutas unilaterais de exclusão relacionadas à exploração desses direitos. Para tanto, propõe-se a interpretação dos dispositivos do TRIPS sobre concorrência a partir da experiência prática das autoridades antitruste e tribunais dos Estados Unidos e da União Europeia. Será também abordada a relação entre propriedade intelectual e direito da concorrência no contexto do ordenamento jurídico-constitucional brasileiro, especialmente a partir da Lei n.º 12.529/2011, nova lei antitruste que altera e define o Sistema Brasileiro de Defesa da Concorrência (SBDC), e de casos recentes julgados pelo Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE). Ao final, serão analisadas as possíveis abordagens que poderiam ser adotadas pelos países em desenvolvimento na implementação de políticas de concorrência nacionais, que sejam eficazes e compatíveis com o Acordo TRIPS, de modo a contribuir com eventuais discussões futuras sobre o tema em foros internacionais. / The purpose of this thesis is to assess the interface between intellectual property and competition law in light of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights TRIPS Agreement of the World Trade Organization WTO. The provisions regarding competition were included in Article 8.2, which authorizes the Members to adopt appropriated measures to prevent abuses of intellectual property rights by right holders or practices which restrain trade and international transfer of technology; in the Article 40, which deals with the control of anti-competitive practices in contractual licenses; and Article 31(k), which deals with the compulsory licensing of patents to remedy a practice considered to be anti-competitive. These provisions were included in the TRIPS Agreement as a result of concessions made by the developed countries to the developed countries, in exchange for the strengthening of the minimal standards for the protection of intellectual property rights. Therefore, these provisions can be considered within the context of the flexibilities set forth in the Agreement. However, even if such provisions represent an essential element of balance, they also left important issues unanswered. Besides being vague, they do not provide adequate guidance for emerging countries to implement national public policies to prevent restrictive practices related with the exploitation of intellectual property rights. As a consequence, whereas the most industrialized countries already have antitrust authorities and courts with strong experience and the necessary resources to deal with issues related with the interface between intellectual property and competition law, most of the emerging countries, even those which have national antitrust laws, have not yet acquired experience and technical capacity to deal with such a complex matter. Thus, the thesis should tackle the circumstances in which possible abuses of intellectual property rights might restrain competition, especially with regard to restrictive practices in licensing agreements, cross-licenses and patent pools, and unilateral exclusionary abuses related with the exploitation of such rights. In this sense, it is proposed to interpret the provisions of TRIPS on competition from the practical experience of the antitrust authorities and courts of the United States and the European Union. We should also tackle the relationship between intellectual property and competition laws in the ambit of the Brazilian legal and constitutional system, especially with regard to Law No. 12.529/2011, the new Brazilian antitrust law, which alters and defines the Brazilian Defense of Competition System SBDC (Sistema Brasileiro de Defesa da Concorrência SBCD), as well as with regard to recent cases judged by the Administrative Counsel of Economic Defense CADE (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica CADE). Finally, it will be examined possible approaches that could be adopted by developing countries in implementing national competition policies, effective and compatible with the TRIPS Agreement, so as to contribute to future discussions on the issue in international fora.

O presente trabalho busca analisar os diferentes tratamentos dispensados à marca no âmbito do controle preventivo e no controle repressivo de condutas. A análise da função social das marcas demonstrou que esta é uma propriedade que se realiza na concorrência e pela concorrência. Nesse sentido, não há dúvidas de que está sujeita aos princípios do Direito Concorrencial. Todavia, a maneira como esses princípios balizam a marca no controle de atos de concentração, de um lado, e no controle repressivo de condutas, de outro, difere. No âmbito do controle de atos de concentração, a atuação da autoridade concorrencial é orientada por uma variante do princípio da precaução, o que a autoriza a tomar decisões e impor restrições aos direitos marcários mesmo em um contexto de incerteza. No âmbito do controle repressivo de condutas, todavia, a intervenção do CADE está sujeita aos princípios do Processo Administrativo Sancionador. Neste contexto, as condutas que envolvem o uso de direitos de propriedade intelectual, incluindo as marcas, devem ser analisadas à luz do princípio da estrita legalidade. Um critério jurídico objetivo é necessário para distinguir o lícito do ilícito, sobretudo em um cenário no qual estão em jogo duas políticas públicas distintas: a de proteção à concorrência e a de proteção à direitos de propriedade industrial. Sendo essas duas políticas instrumentais e parciais, voltadas a um fim maior de política econômica, devem harmonizar-se, e não sobrepor-se uma a outra. Ademais, o escopo de atuação da autoridade concorrencial em processos que investiguem o uso abusivo de direitos marcários e atos de concorrência desleal deve ser esclarecido. O direito concorrencial, enquanto ramo autônomo do direito, com princípios e métodos interpretativos próprios, pode analisar institutos e figuras de outros ramos que com ele guardem relação sem ter de ficar adstrito ao posicionamento de outras instâncias. / This work has the purposes of analyzing the different treatments trademarks are subject in the fields of merger control and antitrust infringement proceedings. The analysis of the social function of trademark showed that it is a property that becomes effective in and by means of competition. In this sense, there is no doubt that it is subject to the principles of Antitrust Law. However, the way these principles limits trademark rights in the context of merger control, on one side, and, antitrust infringement proceedings, on the other, varies. In the field of merger control, the antitrust authority is guided by a variant of the precautionary principle, which empowers it to make decisions and impose restrictions to trademark rights even in a context of uncertainty. However, under antitrust infringement proceedings, CADEs intervention is subject to the principles of the Sanctioning Administrative Procedure. As a result, the conducts that involve intellectual property rights, including trademark rights, must be analyzed in view of the principle of strict legality. An objective legal criterion is necessary to distinguish licit from illicit behaviors especially under a scenario where two different public policies are at stake: the one relating to competition defense and the other concerning the protection to intellectual property rights. Since these two policies are instrumental, partial and targeted to a higher objective connected with economic policy, they should be harmonized and not overlap each other. In addition, the scope of the competition authoritys jurisdiction in antitrust infringement proceedings which investigate the abuse of trademark laws and acts of unfair competition should be clarified. Antitrust law, as an independent legal field, which contains its own principles and interpretation methods, can analyze institutes from other legal fields to which it is related without being bound by the positioning of other instances.