We’ve mentioned a few times on the blog the increasing global convergence of antitrust agencies, especially in the approach taken to ‘pay-for-delay’ settlements (see here and here). I was fascinated to hear that India’s Competition Commission is also interested in enforcement on the competition law/IP interface, announcing recently that it is to look at patent settlements between Hoffman-La Roche and Cipla, and Merck and Glenmark. Thank you to a reader of our blog, Natasha Nayak, for pointing this out to us. Natasha has in fact written an article on the broader trend for the Indian agency to focus on IP-related enforcement, which readers interested in the region (as we certainly are) may want to read here.

While we’re on the subject, Canada’s Competition Bureau announced in September that it is likely to pursue criminal proceedings in some pay-for-delay settlements, taking enforcement one step further than any authority we are aware, in an area where there is still heated debate about the actual effects of such settlements.

Of course, do let us know if there are any other developments in your part of the world.

Osman Zafar