As discussed in this short comment, unless DG Competition breaks this silence and offers some guidance that will help innovative pharmaceuticals navigate the sometimes hazardous intersection of intellectual property and competition law, it will be fostering an unhealthy climate of legal uncertainty.

The Commission’s sector-wide investigation moves competition law to the center of the generics debate and raises thorny issues on the relationship between the competition and IP rules.

Efforts by innovative pharmaceutical companies to protect their markets against generic drugs have generated a wide-ranging debate over how to achieve the proper balance between these companies’ legitimate interests in reaping the full rewards of their research and development...