Protection of intellectual property rights against unfair trade practices in the European Union

It is indicated that each state must ensure fair competition in its market in order to support economic growth. This provision is also relevant for the European Union, within which the primary importance is to ensure free competition for the further development of a single system of circulation of goods, works and services, promotion of innovation and creativity, job creation and increased competitiveness, as all this is necessary for the EU to compete in global economy. This article provides a general analysis of the correlation and interaction between the provisions of intellectual property law and the provisions of competition law in the European Union (EU). In particular, the author examines the peculiarities of legal regulation of economic competition and intellectual property protection at the EU level, the state of compliance with EU competition law in the process of exercising and protecting intellectual property rights, and the role of court decisions in determining the balance between intellectual property protection and competition law requirements. The author emphasises that despite different objectives, competition law and intellectual property law have a common basis and therefore actively interact, i.e. these two systems are synergistic. The author analyses possible options for the relationship between protection against unfair competition and intellectual property laws, including the means that would reduce the often existing «tension» between them. Due to the need for a common regulatory framework to ensure that laws are in line with dynamic trade practices, the EU’s unfair competition laws are mostly flexible and general in nature. The author identifies the measures currently being taken by the EU to optimise the rules in this area. The author concludes that intellectual property protection, as well as effective antitrust regulation, are the most important legal mechanisms created to ensure economic growth based on the development and expanded use of innovations. The author also examines the measures currently being taken by the EU to optimize the rules in this area. It is concluded that the general trend of further development and improvement of interaction between antitrust and intellectual property legislation in the EU should be, first of all, overcoming regulatory and institutional dispersion.