Proposed Recommendation that the Secretary of State replace the Assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption
The CMA is consulting on a proposed recommendation that the Secretary of State replace the Assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption with a UK block exemption order, when it expires on 30 April 2026.
Admin timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 11 April 2025 | Consultation closes |
| 14 March 2025 | Consultation on CMA’s Proposed Recommendation to Secretary of State |
| 6 September 2024 | Deadline for call for inputs |
| 26 July 2024 | Call for inputs |
Consultation on the CMA’s Proposed Recommendation to the Secretary of State
14 March 2025: The CMA is consulting on a proposed recommendation that the Secretary of State replace the Assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (Assimilated TTBER) with a UK block exemption order, when it expires on 30 April 2026.
Consultation runs until 5pm, 11 April 2025.
Call for inputs (closed 6 September 2024)
26 July 2024: The CMA welcomes views from stakeholders on considerations relating to the application of the Assimilated TTBER in the UK.
The information stakeholders provide in response to this call for inputs will help inform our draft recommendation to government, which will be subject to public consultation.
The responses to the present call for inputs may also be shared with the Department for Business and Trade in order to facilitate consideration of the CMA’s recommendation.
Context
The Competition Act 1998 (CA98) prohibits agreements between businesses that restrict competition in the UK (unless they meet the conditions for exemption in section 9(1) of the CA98 or are otherwise excluded). This is known as the Chapter I prohibition.
An agreement is exempt from the Chapter I prohibition if it creates sufficient efficiencies and benefits to outweigh any anti-competitive effects. Ordinarily, businesses must make their own assessment of whether an agreement which restricts competition can be justified based on its benefits.
In certain cases, it may be clear that all agreements in a particular category are likely to be exempt agreements. In these circumstances, a ‘block exemption’ may be made to automatically exempt agreements in that category provided that they satisfy the conditions set out in the block exemption. In this way, a ‘block exemption’ order provides legal certainty for businesses.
The Assimilated TTBER automatically exempts certain types of technology transfer agreements from the Chapter I prohibition insofar as those agreements meet certain conditions set out in the Assimilated TTBER. A ‘technology transfer agreement’ for these purposes is an agreement in which one party authorises another to use certain industrial property rights (such as patents, design rights, software copyrights and know-how) for the production of goods or services.
Background
Following the UK’s exit from the EU, the EU block exemption regulations that were in force under EU law at the end of the Transition Period on 31 December 2020 were retained in UK law and are known as assimilated block exemption regulations. An agreement is exempt from the Chapter I prohibition if it falls within a category of agreements specified as exempt in an assimilated block exemption regulation. For details on what the assimilated block exemptions cover, see Guidance on the functions of the CMA after the end of the Transition Period (paragraphs 4.31 to 4.36). Under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, what was previously ‘retained EU law’ became ‘assimilated law’ at the end of 2023.
The Assimilated TTBER therefore forms part of UK competition law as an assimilated block exemption regulation, subject to certain amendments that were made as part of the EU withdrawal process.
In accordance with the CA98, the CMA has a role in advising the Secretary of State for Business and Trade (previously the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) on the making of new block exemptions and varying or revoking assimilated block exemption regulations.
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