Intellectual Property Licences and Technology Transfer
A Practical Guide to the New European Licensing Regime

Duncan Curley (Author)

9781843340898, Elsevier Science

Paperback / softback, published 30 September 2004

356 pages
23.4 x 15.6 x 2.3 cm, 0.61 kg

"…the work is lucid and helpful." --World Competition

This essential guide vital new changes by the European Commission to the law governing the enforceability of intellectual property licences in Europe. Agreements which contain the grant of a licence by one party to another of intellectual property rights are subject to European competition (anti-trust) laws. In particular, many agreements containing licences of patent rights and rights in confidential information and technical know-how are caught by Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty, which prohibits agreements between undertakings which prevent, restrict or distort competition in the Common Market. However, because licences of intellectual property rights usually facilitate the transfer of technology from one undertaking to another, and the licensor and licensee will often operate at different levels of the market, many licences of intellectual property rights may benefit from an automatic exemption under Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty. On 1 May 2004, this exemption is being radically overhauled, as part of the European Commission’s drive to modernise European competition law. This book examines the changes in that legislation.

Exploitation of intellectual property rights and the impact of competition law
The old technology transfer block exemption regulation and the need for reform
An economics-based approach to the analysis of agreements under Article 81 and the new-style block exemptions
The technology transfer block exemption: The safe harbour
The technology transfer block exemption: Hardcore and excluded restrictions
Analysis outside the block exemption: Article 81(3)
Challenges to licence agreements under the modernised regime
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Intellectual property law [LNR], Library & information sciences [GL]