SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dana Halwani and Leanne Farsi, Derayah LLPC
• fixing the volumes, weights or quantities of produc - tion of commodities or the performance of ser - vices; • restricting the freedom of flow of commodities or services to the markets, or wholly or partially removing them therefrom by concealing or storing them without right, or refusing to deal therein; • any conduct tending to impede the entry of an enterprise to the market, or excluding it therefrom; • withholding commodities or services available on the market wholly or in part from a particular enter - prise or enterprises; • dividing up the markets for the sale or purchase of commodities or goods, or allocating them in accordance with any criterion, particularly accord - ing to geographical areas, distribution centres, types of customers, or seasons and periods of time; • freezing operations of manufacture, development, distribution and marketing and all other modes of investment, or restricting them; and • colluding or co-ordinating in bids or offers in gov - ernmental or other auctions or tenders in such a manner as to disturb competition. The GAC has both an investigation department and a tribunal that adjudicates on violations of the Com - petition Regulation. The decisions of the Committee for the Determination of Violations of the Competition Regulation are appealable to the Administrative Court, but such appeals have so far, for the most part, been unsuccessful. Since the GAC was established in 2004, originally as the Competition Protection Council, it has taken to court and convicted enterprises in a variety of industries, including cement, medical gases, rice, sugar and soft drinks. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position Under the 2019 Competition Regulation, a dominant entity is defined as having a 40% market share or the ability to influence a particular market. Dominant businesses may not abuse their position, nor disturb or limit competition. Article 6 of the 2019 Competition Regulation sets out the following non- exclusive list of practices that are prohibited for domi - nant businesses:
• selling a commodity or service at a price less than the total cost, in order to exclude enterprises from the market or to expose them to grave loss, or to impede the entry of potential enterprises; • fixing or imposing prices or conditions for the resale of commodities or services; • reducing or increasing the available quantities of products in order to control prices or fabricate a non-genuine abundance or shortage; • discriminating in dealings between enterprises in respect of similar contracts with regard to the prices of commodities, consideration for services, or conditions of sale or purchase thereof; • refusing to deal with another enterprise without objective cause, in order to restrict its entry to the market; • imposing a requirement on an enterprise that it should refrain from dealing with another enterprise; and • making the sale of a commodity or the provision of a service conditional upon the assumption of obligations or the acceptance of goods or services that – by their nature or under commercial usage – are unconnected with the commodity or service that is the subject matter of the original contract or transaction. Originally, intellectual property rights were adminis - tered and protected by three different government authorities: • King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) for patents; • the MOC for trade marks; and • the Ministry of Media for copyrights. These functions are now handled by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), which aims to organise, support, sponsor, protect and promote intellectual property in the Kingdom, in accordance with global best practices. Patents 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
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