The relationship between patent and competition is rather complex. Whereas both sets of rules contribute to the same objective, i.e. consumer welfare and economic growth, their means collide. Patent laws create and protect monopolies while competition laws seek to limit their influence or even oppose their occurrence. However, since technological development is a financially risky process, it needs to be secured through a strong rewarding monopoly. Neo-classical theory has been so far the cornerstone of competition law. It is driven by a view of the market where price equilibrium and market atomicity constitute the main elements of allocative efficiency. But it promotes a rather static view of the market which neglects the fundamental aspects of technology-driven markets in the modern economy. Therefore we need to curb the role of the mainstream economic postulates by taking into account adequate theories in order to reflect modern innovation and technological diffusion onto the markets.

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