Consultation outcome

Consultation on the CMA’s proposed recommendation on the Assimilated TTBER

This consultation has concluded

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Detail of outcome

Having carefully considered the various issues, the CMA has recommended that the Secretary of State for Business and Trade replace the Assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption (Assimilated TTBER) with a UK block exemption order.

Feedback received

Avanci response

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Dentons response

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Ericsson response

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Fair Standards Alliance response

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InterDigital response

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Kat Rocket response

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Nokia response

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Sisvel response

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SME Safe Island Limited response

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Detail of feedback received

We received 12 responses to the consultation, of which 9 are non-confidential.


Original consultation

Summary

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is consulting on a proposed recommendation that the Secretary of State replace the Assimilated TTBER with a UK block exemption order, when it expires on 30 April 2026.

This consultation was held on another website.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

The CMA is consulting on its proposed recommendation (the Proposed Recommendation) to the Secretary of State (SoS) for Business and Trade regarding the Assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (the Assimilated TTBER), which expires on 30 April 2026. The Assimilated TTBER exempts certain types of technology transfer agreements from the Chapter I prohibition of the Competition Act.

In the Proposed Recommendation, the CMA proposes to recommend that the Secretary of State make a block exemption order of 12 years’ duration that exempts the categories of technology transfer agreements currently exempted by the Assimilated TTBER, and which includes the same definitions, conditions and obligations as the Assimilated TTBER (adapted as necessary for UK purposes), but with the following variations:

  • removing ‘utility models’ from the definition of ‘technology rights’
  • adding ‘copyright in a database’ and ‘database rights’ to the definitions of ‘technology rights’ and ‘intellectual property rights’
  • adding definitions of ‘active sales’ and ‘passive sales’
  • replacing the market share thresholds in respect of technology markets with a condition that there be at least 3 independently controlled substitutable technologies in addition to the technologies held by the parties to the agreement

The CMA has prepared the Proposed Recommendation having regard, among other things, to responses to the call for inputs on the Assimilated TTBER, which ran from midday on 26 July 2024 to 5pm on 6 September 2024. These responses to the call for inputs are published on the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation consultation page.

Documents

Consultation on the CMA’s Proposed Recommendation on the Assimilated TTBER

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Updates to this page

Published 14 March 2025
Last updated 30 September 2025 show all updates
  1. Consultation responses and final recommendation published.

  2. First published.

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