Agence France Presse had claimed that a SIPO source had confirmed that the Office had begun an investigation into Microsoft and "several other global software firms" for setting unreasonably high prices for software.
According to the article, Microsoft charges up to Rmb700,000 ($1,020) for Windows operating software, which is more expensive than a personal computer.
A Chinese newspaper also wrote that the enquiry will look at the fact that Microsoft bundling its operating system with its own software programs.
But in a strongly worded statement today, SIPO has described these reports as "seriously untruthful". It stated: "SIPO has never done any investigation against suspected market monopolistic acts of enterprises and does not have plans to start work in this respect at this moment."
China's National People's Congress passed the Anti-Monopoly Law on August 31 last year and it is due to come into effect on August 1 this year. Article 17 of the law deals with pricing issues.
According to a translation by China Law & Practice magazine of the Law, Article 17 states that a business operator that has market dominance cannot engage in the following acts:
1. selling goods at an unfairly high price or purchasing goods at an unfairly low price;
5. selling goods through a tying arrangement without legitimate reason or imposing other unreasonable trade conditions in the course of trading.
Kirstie Nicholson, of counsel at Lovells in Shanghai, told Managing IP that, after August 1, it would be the Anti-Monopoly Enforcement Agency, not SIPO, that would carry out investigations of any breaches into the Anti-Monopoly Law.
"The law contains a number of ambiguities," said Nicholson. Although the government promised to produce implementing regulations to clarify different aspects of the law, the only draft regulations circulated so far deal with mergers and acquisitions.
In September last year Microsoft lost a high-profile case in the Court of First Instance of the European Court of Justice. The Court found that Microsoft had abused competition by refusing to provide "interoperability information" to competitors and by tying its Windows Media Player software to the purchase of Windows operating systems. It upheld a record fine of €497 million. Microsoft did not appeal the decision.
In an emailed statement Microsoft said it was not aware of any competition law investigation into the company’s activities in China and stated: “We fully support China's efforts to establish an environment conducive to promoting fair competition and we believe we are in compliance with Chinese law.”
The July/August edition of Managing IP will contain an article on the Anti-Monopoly Law. It will be available online in early July.
