IRAQ Law and Practice Contributed by: Ahmed Al-Janabi, MENA Associates in association with AMERELLER
6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification
higher market prices or to prevent any decrease thereof. Furthermore, the law prohibits the merg - ing of two or more companies if such a merger would result in one entity controlling at least 50% of the total production or sales of a prod - uct or service.
Mergers and acquisitions are not subject to noti - fication in Iraq; only the signing of a resolution and a sales and purchase agreement would be required. For mergers, this would include sign - ing the merger contract and the resolution. The announcement of such merger must be pub - lished in a daily newspaper. 6.2 Merger Control Procedure Merger notifications are not required under Iraq law. 6.3 Cartels Fair Competition and Antitrust Law No 14 of 2010 (Competition Law) protects and ensures free and fair trading in Iraq. The law provides for a Fair Competition and Antitrust Council attached to the Council of Ministers, which supervises Iraqi markets. Consumer Protection Law No 1 of 2010 gives consumers the right to be fully informed about consumer goods. Most nota - bly, Iraqi Product Protection Law No 11 of 2010 aims to protect local Iraqi products from unfair competition in international trade. It remains to be seen whether these laws will be applied in a protectionist manner. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position The Competition Law generally prohibits prac - tices that aim to harm competition. There is no specific legal framework that governs unilateral conduct and economic dependency. The Competition Law contains a list of anti- competitive practices that are prohibited. For example, it is prohibited to sell a product at a price that is less than its actual purchase price if it is done so to harm competition, or to buy a product or service to the extent that it leads to
7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
Patents are regulated in Iraq by Law No 65 of 1970 on Patents and Industrial Designs (Pat - ent Law) as amended by Law No 28 of 1999 and CPA Order No 81. According to Article 2 of the Patent Law, patents protect inventions that are applicable to industry, are novel or involve an innovative step and concern new industrial products, new industrial methods or new appli - cations of known industrial methods. The following persons may apply for patents: • Iraqi nationals and citizens of Arab countries; • foreigners residing in Iraq; • foreigners belonging to a state having a recip - rocal agreement with Iraq concerning patent registration; • public departments; and • companies and establishments organised and existing in Iraq or in a state having a recipro - cal agreement with Iraq concerning patent registration. Iraq is a member of the Convention establish - ing the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Patents are protected for 20 years from the date of the filing. They may not be renewed or extended.
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