Brussels, 25 November 2022
The European Commission has launched today a Call for Evidence seeking feedback on the scope and content of its evaluation of the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (‘TTBER’) and the related Guidelines.
The TTBER exempts certain categories of technology transfer agreements from the prohibition of anticompetitive agreements laid down in Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Technology transfer agreements are agreements by which one party authorises another to use certain industrial property rights, such as patents and software copyrights for the production of goods or services. In some cases, such agreements may facilitate collusion, restrict the ability of competitors to enter the market, or harm inter- or intra-technology competition, for example by reducing the incentives to innovate.
The aim of the TTBER is to strengthen the incentives for research and development, facilitate the diffusion of technologies and promote competition. The current rules are set to expire on 30 April 2026.
The purpose of the evaluation is to gather evidence on how the TTBER has been applied in practice by companies that are active in the EU and other interested parties, such as law firms and economic consultancy firms that advise such undertakings on related competition issues, in order to help the Commission decide whether to renew the current TTBER, revise it or let it expire.
All interested parties can submit their views in any official EU language on the Commission’s Have your Say Portal until 23 December 2022. The feedback obtained will help the Commission prepare a public consultation that it aims to launch in the second quarter of 2023.
Source – EU Commission