Speech of Pieter Kalbfleisch on consumer welfare and innovation

Speech by Pieter Kalbfleisch held at the seminar: Consumer welfare, innovation and competition at the Forschungsinstitut für Wirtschaftsverfassung und Wettbewerb in Innsbruck, 26 February 2009. Key elements of the speech were: (1) the role of competition law and policy, authorities and regulatory bodies in controlling the use of market power; the enhancement of consumer welfare, both short-term and long-term, should be at the forefront when applying competition law. (2) Intellectual property rights and the stimulation of innovation. When applying provisions on abuse of dominance to cases involving intellectual property rights, a focus on stimulating innovation is needed.