PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafael Rivera, Javier José Vallarino, Juan Vallarino, Karen Y. Tejeira and Carolina Lino, BDO Legal Panama
6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position Article 16 of Law No 45 of 2007 prohibits unilateral acts, combinations, arrangements, or agreements that have the purpose of unreasonably displacing other competitors or preventing their access to the market, in the following cases: • between economic agents that are not competi - tors, the fixation, imposition, or establishment of the exclusive distribution of goods or services, by reason of the subject, geographic location, or for a determined period of time; • the imposition or fixing of prices; • the sale or transaction conditioned upon the purchase, acquisition, sale, or provision of another additional good or service; • the sale or transaction being subject to the condi - tion of not using or acquiring, selling, or providing goods or services produced, processed, distrib - uted, or marketed by a third party; • unilateral conduct consisting of refusing to sell or provide to certain people goods or services that are available and normally offered to third parties; • any act that unreasonably damages or impedes the process of free economic competition and free market participation in the production, processing, distribution, supply, or commercialisation of goods or services; and • any other cases set forth and regulated under Panamanian law. Patents are granted to those inventions that are patentable subject matter and meet with the require - ments of novelty and non-obviousness. The proce - dure is requested before the General Directorate of Intellectual Property (DIGERPI) accomplishing with all the required documents which, if the documents are issued abroad, must be duly apostilled and translated into Spanish by an authorised public translator. Panama is a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), therefore international applications are allowed. During the national phase from a PCT application, the same requirements and procedure as with any other 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
mation or documents are received, as applicable ‒ to issue its resolution. As part of the review process, the competent author - ity will examine the financial statements of the parties involved in the transaction, copies of relevant busi - ness valuation or investment projection documents, and a description of the goods and/or services pro - duced or offered by each economic agent, among other requirements, to ensure that the economic con - centration does not adversely affect the market. In this regard, the authority will assess the market share of the participating agents within the relevant market in relation to their competitors and custom - ers, the likelihood that the concentration may restrict free competition, or whether it may facilitate unilateral price increases without current or potential competi - tors being able to effectively counteract such market power. 6.3 Cartels Anti-competitive practices are regulated under Law No 45 of 2007 and include the following: • any intentional or wilful act that creates confusion regarding the services or commercial or industrial activities of a competitor; • any false statement made during trade that dis - credits the commercial or industrial activities of a competitor; • any deceptive action intended to divert, for per - sonal benefit or that of another, the clientele of a business or industry; • any misleading indication that may confuse or deceive consumers regarding the origin, charac - teristics, production process, method of use, or the quality, quantity, or cost of a seller’s goods or services; and • any other act that, by any means, results in a restriction of trade, a reduction in production aimed at increasing prices, or the establishment of uniform prices or rates for products and services, to the detriment of fair competition and consumer welfare.
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