The International League for Competition Law (LIDC) is a longstanding international association which was created in 1930. The LIDC is composed of 16 national chapters and counts more than 800 members. The LIDC focuses on the study of competition law, intellectual property law, and unfair competition law. It is a unique platform for exchanging and developing ideas and knowledge at the intersection of competition, intellectual property, and unfair competition law, both at a national and an international setting.
The LIDC’s objectives are:
- to promote the principles of fairness and justice in competitive trade;
- to collect together information and documentation relating to (unfair) competition law and intellectual property law in various countries;
- to provide documentation and information on these subjects;
- to study and compare the legislation of the different member countries and to propose solutions for the problems faced in (unfair) competition and intellectual property law at both the national and the international level;
- to publish the principles formulated by the LIDC in the fields of competition law, intellectual property law and unfair competition;
- to research and defend the means of assuring freedom in commerce and business.
The LIDC’s is constituted by National Groups that agree with the LIDC’s purposes and participate in its activities. Individual members from countries where no national group is currently constituted can also become an LIDC member.
Every year, the LIDC organises an international Congress to study in particular two questions related to competition law, intellectual property law and/or unfair competition. National Groups or individual members write a national report on each question. The national reports constitute the basis for an in-depth international report discussed during the Congress. The resolutions, adopted during the General Assembly, propose solutions to the questions debated and suggest recommendations that are sent to national and international authorities. The national and international reports are published by Springer and LIDC in the series “LIDC Contributions on Antitrust Law, Intellectual Property and Unfair Competition”.
The LIDC further organises Webinars on competition law, intellectual property and unfair competition issues of relevance and interest for its members. Working groups are constituted to study in-depth certain legal developments.