SRI LANKA Law and Practice Contributed by: Ayanthi Abeyawickrama, Varners
conduct has a substantial effect on competition in Sri Lankan markets. As such, agreements concluded abroad may still fall within the pur - view of the CAA if they affect domestic trade or consumers. There have been ongoing discussions and stake - holder consultations on introducing a modern and comprehensive competition law framework to replace or significantly reform the current regime. These reforms are expected to: • establish a clearer prohibition structure; • provide for merger control; • introduce investigative and sanctioning pow - ers; and • align with international best practices in com - petition law enforcement. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position Under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act, it is prohibited for any enterprise that holds a dominant position in the market to abuse that dominance in a way that prevents, restricts or distorts competition. The Act does not define “dominance” using formal market share thresh - olds, but in practice the CAA assesses whether an enterprise has the ability to act independently of market forces, competitors and consumers. Forms of abuse may include: • unjustified price discrimination; • imposing unfair purchase or selling prices; • limiting production or markets; and • predatory pricing or refusal to deal. However, the current legal regime does not expressly address economic dependency or exploitative abuses in vertical relationships (such as unjustified termination of long-standing sup - ply arrangements or coercive exclusivity), and
there is no standalone provision dealing with essential facility doctrines or dominant plat - forms. The effects-based test applies, meaning that even if the conduct takes place outside Sri Lan - ka it may be caught under the law if it has the effect of distorting or harming competition in the Sri Lankan market. The CAA has administrative powers to inves - tigate and issue directions but does not have powers to impose substantial penalties, grant injunctive relief or prosecute offenders through a specialised tribunal. As such, enforcement of unilateral conduct cases remains rare and dis - cretionary. A patent is a form of intellectual property grant - ed to protect an invention that is novel, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable. Patent protection is governed by the Intellec - tual Property Act, No 36 of 2003. A granted pat - ent confers the exclusive right to prevent oth - ers from commercially exploiting an invention, such as making, using, selling or importing the patented product or process, without the patent holder’s consent. The term of protection for a patent in Sri Lanka is 20 years from the date of filing the application, subject to the payment of prescribed annual renewal fees. The registration process begins with filing a patent application at the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka (NIPO), including a description, claims, drawings (if any) and an 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
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