Enforcing the Competition Law in Namibia A Toolkit - cuts ccier

8. COMPETITION VS INTELLECTUALPROPERTY LAWIPRs protection is a policy tool meant to fostering innovation; which benefitsconsumers through the development of new and improved goods and services,and spurs sustaining economic growth. It bestows on innovators the right tolegitimately exclude, for a limited amount of time, other parties from thebenefits arising from new knowledge, and more specifically, from thecommercial use of innovative products and processes based on that newknowledge. In other words, innovators or IPR holders are rewarded with atemporary monopoly by the law to recoup the costs incurred in the researchand innovation process and earn rightful and reasonable profits, so that theyhave incentives to invest in further research and innovation.Competition law, on the other hand, has always been regarded by most asessential in curbing market distortions, disciplining anticompetitive practices,preventing monopoly and abuse of monopoly, inducing optimum allocationof resources and benefiting consumers with fair prices, wider choice and betterqualities. It, therefore, ensures that the monopolistic power associated withIPRs is not excessively compounded or leveraged and extended to the detrimentof competition. Further, while seeking to protect competition and thecompetitive process, which in turn prod innovators to be the first in the marketwith a new product or service at a price and quality that consumers want,competition law underscores the importance of stimulating innovation ascompetitive inputs, and thus also works to enhance consumer welfare.Thus, it is now generally recognisedthat the goals of competition law andIP law are rather complementary andmutually reinforcing. They share thecommon purpose of promotinginnovation, enhancing andbenefiting customer welfare as wellas allocating efficient economicresources. Moreover, they are alsodifferent levels of market regulation.Errors or systematic biases in theinterpretation or application of oneIn view of current status ofthe Namibian CompetitionAct, which is not dealingwith the intellectual propertyrights in explicit manner, theconsiderations de lege latacould serve as a startingpoint for futureimprovements of the Act inthis regard.policy’s rules can harm the other policy’s effectiveness. A challenge for bothpolicies is to find the proper balance of competition and innovation protection.86 Enforcing the Competition Law in Namibia: A Toolkit