Speech by Pieter Kalbfleisch: Consumer welfare, innovation and competition - Innsbruck, 26 February 2009

Speech by Pieter Kalbfleisch held on the seminar: 'Consumer welfare, innovation and competition' at the Forschungsinstitut fur Wirtschaftsverfassung und Wettbewerb in Innsbruck, 26 February 2009.
Key elements:
- 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 and longterm, should be on the forefront when applying competition law.
- Intellectual property rights and the stimulation of innovation. When applying provisions on abuse of dominance to cases involving intellectual property rights one needs to focus on stimulating innovation.