oct 09
oct 10
oct 11
oct 12
13:00 - 18:00 Registration of Delegates
14:00 - 15:00 Meeting of the Scientific Committee
15:00 - 17:00 Meeting of the Bureau
17:00 - 18:00 Meeting of the Council
18:00 - 20:00 Welcome Cocktail (including Canapés)
20:30 - 22:30 Young Members/NexGen (Evening Event with Drinks)
08:30 - 13:00 Registration of Delegates
09:00 - 10:00 Opening Session: current developments in competition law from an European and United States perspective

Keynote speakers:

Natalie Harsdorf, Director General, Austrian Federal Competition Authority (BWB)

Creighton J. Macy, Global Chair Antitrust & Competition, Baker McKenzie LLP (Washington, United States)

10:00 - 11:15 Panel 1: dominant gatekeepers in the online sector

How can antitrust law ensure fair competition in the online sector (esp DMA)?

Chair: Lena Hornkohl, Assistant Professor for European Law, University of Vienna

Speakers:

Thomas Kramler, Head of Unit Digital, Platforms at DG Competition (European Commission)

Andras Tóth, Chairman of the Hungarian Competition Council (Budapest, Hungary)

Arnd Haller, Senior Legal Director at Google (Hamburg, Germany)

Verena Dorner, Professor of Digital Ecosystems (University of Economics Vienna)

11:15 - 11:45 Morning Coffee
11:45 - 12:45 Panel 2: legal issues in sports

and Panel 3: green advertising parallel

Latest developments on the various aspects of the particular sports market

Chair: Castillo de la Torre, Director Legal Service, Competition and Mergers Team (European Commission)

Speakers:

Marine Montejo, EU-qualified lawyer, Competition law and Sports law (Brussels, Belgien)

Ben Van Rompuy, Associate Professor of European Competition Law (Leiden, Netherlands)

Georgios Gryllos, Legal Secretary and Referendaire (Court of Justice of the European Union)

Fabian Larcher, Head of Legal Department (Austrian Ski Association - OSV)

 

Can strict rules, such as the pre-approval of green claims to prevent Green Washing, lead to Green Hushing?

Chair: Andrea Zinober, Partner at bpv Hugel attorneys at law

Speakers:

Erika Ummenberger-Zierler, Head of Competition Policy and Law (Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics)

Gabriela Staber, Partner at CMS Reich Rohrwig Hainz attorneys at law

Jennifer Beal, Center for Protection against Unfair Competition (Berlin, Germany)

12:45 - 13:45 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:00 Panel 4: dark patterns and Panel 5: FSR and FDI parallel

Dark patterns: old legal issues in a new style or a need for further legislation?

Chair: Barbara Kuchar, Partner at KWR Karasek Wietrzyk attorneys at law

Speakers:

Susanne Augenhofer, Professor of Competition Law (University of Innsbruck)

Francis Yang, Competition Lawyer at JunHe (Beijing, China)

Christian Handig, Department for Legal Policy (Austrian Federal Economic Chamber)

Lutz Riede, Partner at Freshfields attorneys at law

 

Recent developments on foreign subsidies regulations and foreign direct investment

Chair: Stefan Wartinger, Partner at Wolf Theiss attorneys at law

Speakers:

Pascale Déchamps, Competition economics at Accuracy (Paris, France)

Catrina Lam, Barrister at Des Voeux Chambers (Hong Kong)

Alexandra Leoni, Head of Investment Control, (Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics)

Christoph Koch, Senior Counsel at Siemens AG (Munich, Germany)

15:00 - 15:30 Afternoon Coffee
15:30 - 16:30 Panel 6: protection of branded products

and Panel 7: online platforms and trusted flagger parallel

How far does protection of branded products under unfair competition law go and what are registered property rights good for?

Chair: Christian Schumacher, Partner at Schoenherr attorneys at law

Speakers:

Cordula Cerha, Researcher and Executive Educator (University of Economics Vienna)

Erich Schwarzenbacher, Judge and Senate President (Austrian Supreme Court)

Felipe Oquendo, Senior Associate Lawyer IP litigation at Licks Attorneys (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

 

Trusted Flaggers appointed by authorities: An additional concept of private trusted informants for combating illegal content on online platforms (esp DSA)

Chair: Hannes Seidelberger, CEO of Austrian Association against Unfair Competition

Speakers:

Susanne Lackner, Vice Chairperson (Communications Authority Austria)

Bence Kertész, Legal and Policy Officer Digital Services (European Commission)

Karl Gladt, Project Manager Internet Ombudsman (Austrian Institute for Telecommunications)

Leonard Klenner, Senior Compliance Manager Temu (European Union)

16:30 - 17:30 Closing Panel: articifial intelligence and transparency

AI & Transparency: Legal challenges in the field of IP and Unfair Competition

Chair: Philipp Homar, Professor of Intellectual Property Law (University of Economics Vienna)

Speakers:

Katja Heintschel von Heinegg, CEO Association of the German Advertising Industry (Berlin, Germany)

Belma Abazagic, Head Net Neutrality & Customer Contracts (Austrian Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications RTR)

Rene Heinzl, AI specialist and tech-savvy entrepreneur

18:30 - 19:00 Bus to Gloriette (Schönbrunn Palace)
19:00 - 23:00 Drinks and Flying Buffet at Gloriette
09:00 - 10:30 Working Session - Question A

Concept for the abuse of relative market power beyond market dominance

Chair and International Reporter: Pranvera Këllezi, Swiss Federal Competition Commission and Attorney at law (Geneva, Switzerland)

09:00 - 10:30 Working Session - Question B

Responsibility of online platforms for elimination IP and unfair competition infringements

Chair and International Reporter: Nikolaus Forgó, Professor of Digitalisation in Law (University of Vienna)

10:30 - 11:00 Morning Coffee
11:00 - 12:00 Last Panel: 2 years of unitary patent and many more to come

The impact of the UPC on „smaller“ jurisdictions – risks and opportunities

Chair: Michael Woller, Partner at Schoenherr attorneys at law

Speakers:

Mary-Rose McGuire, Professor of Intellectual Property and Civil Procedure Law (University of Osnabruck)

Mojca Mlakar, Judge at Court of First Instance / Unified Patent Court (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Klaus Grabinski, President of the Court of Appeal / Unified Patent Court (Luxemburg)

Rainer Beetz, Partner at Sonn IP attorneys

12:00 - 13:00 Council Meeting
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:30 - 17:30 Time to visit Vienna
18:00 - 19:00 Guided Tour Concert Hall
19:00 - 23:00 Gala Dinner Concert Hall and dancing with live band
09:00 - 10:00 Guided Tour Lower Belvedere
10:00 - 11:00 Belvedere Garden
11:00 - 12:00 Guided Tour Upper Belvedere
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch at a Restaurant

We are pleased to announce that this year’s LIDC Congress will take place in Vienna from October 9 to 12.

The general motto of the LIDC and this international conference is: “Where Competition, IP and Unfair Competition meet!”
Digital and green change as well as other current subjects like sports, dark patterns, FSR and FDI, branded products, artificial intelligence and unitary patent will be in the legal focus of Antitrust, Intellectual Property and Unfair Commercial Practices.

The congress will take place near the Vienna city centre in the historic House of Industry, whose special Art Nouveau halls and spacious entrance area are exclusively available to the LIDC. After the keynote speeches – on current developments in competition law from an European and US perspective – the panel discussions, some of which will run in parallel, offer a varied programme with over 50 speakers, including representatives from the European Commission, the USA, Brazil and Asia.

The two questions examined at the congress with the related national and international reports are set out as follows:

Question A: “Is the concept of the abuse of relative market power beyond market dominance necessary to ensure a functioning competition and what criteria should be used to assess it?”

Question B: “What responsibility or obligations should online platforms have when it comes to eliminating infringements by their users, especially in the areas of IP and unfair competition?”

For more information, download the congress magazine under ‘Documents’ or contact us at: lidc2025@oev.or.at
Our speakers
Alexandra Leoni
Head of Investment Control
(Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics)
Andras Tóth
Chairman of the Competition Council
and Professor Digital Law
(Budapest, Hungary)
Andrea Zinober
Partner at bpv Hügel attorneys at law
Arnd Haller
Senior Legal Director at Google
(Hamburg, Germany)
Barbara Kuchar
Partner at KWR Karasek Wietrzyk
attorneys at law
Belma Abazagic
Head Net Neutrality & Customer Contracts
(Austrian Regulatory Authority
for Telecommunications)
Ben Van Rompuy
Associate Professor of
European Competition Law
(Leiden, Netherlands)
Bence Kertész
Legal and Policy Officer Digital Services
(European Commission)
Catrina Lam
Barrister at Des Voeux Chambers
(Hong Kong)
Christian Handig
Department for Legal Policy
(Austrian Federal Economic Chamber)
Christian Schumacher
Partner at
Schoenherr attorneys at law
Christoph Koch
Senior Counsel at Siemens AG
(Munich, Germany)
Cordula Cerha
Researcher and Executive Educator
(University of Economics Vienna)
Creighton J. Macy
Global Chair Antitrust & Competition
Practice at Baker McKenzie
(Washington, United States)
Dominik Hofmarcher
Partner at Schoenherr attorneys at law
Erich Schwarzenbacher
Judge and Senate President
(Austrian Supreme Court)
Erika Ummenberger-Zierler
Head of Competition Policy and Law
(Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics)
Fabian Larcher
Head of Legal Department
(Austrian Ski Association - ÖSV)
Felipe Oquendo
Senior Associate Lawyer IP
litigation at Licks Attorneys
(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Fernando Castillo de la Torre
Director Legal Service
Competition and Mergers Team
(European Commission)
Francis Yang
Competition Lawyer at JunHe
(Beijing, China)
Gabriela Staber
Partner at CMS Reich‑Rohrwig Hainz
attorneys at law
Georgios Gryllos
Legal Secretary / Référendaire
(Court of Justice of
the European Union)
Hannes Seidelberger
CEO of Austrian Association
against Unfair Competition
Hanno Wollmann
Partner at Schoenherr
attorneys at law
Jennifer Beal
Center for Protection against
Unfair Competition (Berlin, Germany)
Karl Gladt
Project Manager Internet Ombudsman
(Austrian Institute for Telecommunications)
Katja Heintschel von Heinegg
CEO Association of the
German Advertising Industry
(Berlin, Germany)
Klaus Grabinski
President of the Court of
Appeal / Unified Patent Court
(Luxemburg)
Lena Hornkohl
Assistant Professor (Tenure
Track) for European Law
(University of Vienna)
Leonard Klenner
Senior Compliance Manager
Temu (European Union)
Lutz Riede
Partner at Freshfields
attorneys at law
Marine Montejo
EU-qualified lawyer
Competition law | Sports law
(Brussels, Belgium)
Mary-Rose McGuire
Professor of Intellectual
Property and Civil Procedure Law
(University of Osnabrück, Germany)
Michael Meyenburg
Attorney at law and
LIDC President Austria
Michael Woller
Partner at
Schoenherr attorneys at law
Mojca Mlakar
Judge at Court of First
Instance / Unified Patent Court
(Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Muriel Chagny
Université Panthéon Sorbonne
(Paris, France)
Natalie Harsdorf
Director General
(Austrian Federal Competition Authority)
Nikolaus Forgó
Professor of Digitalisation in Law
(University of Vienna)
Nora Schindler
Specialist Coordinator for
economic case analysis
(Austrian Federal Competition Authority)
Pascale Déchamps
Competition economics at Accuracy
(Paris, France)
Philipp Homar
Professor of Intellectual Property Law
(University of Economics Vienna)
Pranvera Këllezi
Swiss Federal Competition Commission
and Attorney at law
(Geneva, Switzerland)
Rainer Beetz
Partner at
Sonn IP attorneys
Rene Heinzl
AI specialist and
tech-savvy entrepreneur
Sonja Dürager
Partner at bpv Hügel
attorneys at law
Stefan Holzweber
bpv Hügel lawyers and private lecturer
(University of Vienna)
Stefan Wartinger
Partner at Wolf Theiss
attorneys at law
Susanne Augenhofer
Professor of Competition Law
(University of Innsbruck)
Susanne Lackner
Vice Chairperson
(Communications Authority Austria)
Thomas Kramler
Head of Unit Digital
Platforms at DG Competition
(European Commission)
Verena Dorner
Professor of Digital Ecosystems
(University of Economics Vienna)
Zoltán Barakonyi
Baker McKenzie and LIDC President
(Budapest, Hungary)

10 PANELS IN THE FIELD OF IP AND COMPETITION

50 SPEAKERS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

2 INTERNATIONAL REPORTS FOR THE QUESTIONS

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and follow the expert dialogues

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REGISTRATION FOR THE LIDC CONGRESS IN VIENNA IS OPEN
We are pleased to announce that the program for this year’s LIDC Congress has been finalised. To benefit from the discounted rates (available until 30 June 2025), you can register via the menu item "Registration" on this website. And for booking one of the reserved rooms in the hotel nearby with special rates you find…