The Philippines' new Competition Law

The Philippine Competition Act was ratified by the Philippine Congress on June 11 and is currently being reviewed by the Office of the Philippine President.

It outlaws anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position, including mergers that achieve this, but does not prohibit market dominance or monopolies. It prohibits price fixing and bidding manipulation and agreements that substantially prevent, restrict or lessen competition, market carve ups as well as abuse of a dominant position.

It is well known that IP agreements can be caught by competition laws. Agreements that restrict competitors, unreasonably pricing, as well as agreements that seek to control the sale or trade of goods or services are prohibited. There is an exception for franchising, licensing and exclusive merchandising/distributorship agreements and agreements protecting intellectual property rights, confidential information and trade secrets.

IP holders will need to review their old agreements.