Crisis Cartels OK in Korea?

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

A client alert by the excellent Jones Day antitrust team provides the following news:

On December 18, 2008, the primary competition law agency of Korea, the Korea Fair Trade Commission ("KFTC"), submitted to the President of Korea the KFTC’s business plan for 2009. Among other priorities, the KFTC stated that it plans to "strengthen enforcement against abuse of intellectual property rights by global companies in the IT, pharmaceutical, and other new technology industries." It specifically states that the KFTC will "focus on monitoring conduct [of such global companies] that would restrain business activity of another company by abusing their patent rights, thereby, for example, (1) interfering with new entry by such company or (2) coercing such company to purchase raw materials [from them or their designees]."