On March 21, 2013 the Competition Law Association held a workshop on “Tying & Bundling as Potential Infringements of the Competition Law ― Economic and Legal Analysis of the Issue”.

The primary goal of the workshop was to present a consistent and comprehensive analysis of two widespread trade practices, namely tying and bundling, both of which were considered from the viewpoint of laws currently in place and the positions taken by courts and legal commentators, and analyzed using instruments provided by economic science.  The discussions helped uncover the actual role of economic analyses of tie-in transactions in assessments of the collective and individual practices of undertakings and in merger control reviews. A comprehensive analysis of tie-in transactions helps arrive at conclusions ― including de lege lata and de lege ferenda propositions ― which would not be possible in standard legal interpretations of normative acts regulating transactions of this kind.

The workshop was conducted by Mr. Iwo Małobęcki, a student attending the LL.M. Law and Economics program at Law Faculty of Utrecht University, graduate of the Law and Administration Faculty of Warsaw University and of the Center for American Law attached to this Faculty, and member of the Institute of Legal Ethics Foundation. In 2012 Mr. Małobęcki was among the winners of a competition in economic analysis of law staged during the 3rd Polish Law & Economics Conference and of a competition organized by the Chairperson of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) for the best MA thesis. His thesis on the legal analysis of tying and bundling also won an award from the Competition Law Association in the latter competition. Mr. Małobęcki’s research interests focus on competition law, industrial property and copyrights issues.

We invite you to view the photos from the event.