Both systems also share a vehicle for the defensive use of antitrust law. There are some other similarities as well. Both systems have also moved towards an increasingly favorable view of intellectual property licensing, joint ventures, strategic alliances, standardization and trade association activities. The Crucial Differences 1. The first important difference between Community competition law and U.S antitrust law is the considerably different procedure followed in the restraints of trade area.
Community law is far more regulatory in practice.
U.S. antitrust law reviews vertical restraints under a rule of reason. Under Community law, the process is very different. There are two ways to do so. The first is to look for a block exemption regulation covering the type of agreement and figure out if your situation qualifies. To lessen its workload and create greater certainty to companies, the European Commission issues regulations stating the conditions under which certain agreements will be exempted in advance without need for notification of the agreement to the Commission.