Commercial Franchising Antitrust Regulation Research

Franchising is hugely and rapidly developing as a low-cost, large-scale, low-risk and quick-expansion’s business model all over the world and contains a series of intellectual property licensing acts and anti-competition conducts. With economic globalization, strengthening market regulation and implementing anti-monoply laws in each country has become a new trend of economic conditions. As an emerging research in China, franchising was on the rise in 1980s. However, in China, the study on anti-monopoly regulations in franchising are not enough, but also conceptual and descriptive framework based on research. In order to create a fair and free trade for this visable business model-franchising and prevent multinational franchising system from bringing an actual or potential monopoly threat to the competition market, the study on anti-monopoly regulations in franchising has important significance both in academic and realistic area.This thesis mainly focuses on franchising research by use of anti-monopoly theory and reveals complicated anti-competition issues in franchising. In regard, it contains five chapters:in the Chapter 1, introduce the legal nature of franchising and its economic advantages; in the Chapter 2, describe the relationship between the franchising and anti-monoply law; introduce the rationality and necessity of anti-competition conducts in franchising, however, abuse of market edge to curb competition shall be regulated by anti-monoply laws; in the Chapter 3, analyse specific anti-competition conducts and identify their legitimacy or not; in the Chapter 4, analyse and compare between the Europe and America anti-monopoly regulations in franchising. Foreign franchising developments and practices are becoming more and more mature, while our domestic franchising system still lags behind. As a result, it is necessary to study relevant theories, legal system and judicial practices in the franchising in Europe and America; in the Chapter 4, in consideration of China actual conditions, we, by reference to the successful experiences in the franchising in Europe and America, come up with the legislative proposals of China’s anti-monoply regulations in franchising as well as hope to build up an anti-monopoly regulation system in commercial franchising.