Consultation outcome

The Competition Act 1998 (Technology Transfer Agreements Block Exemption) Order 2026 – government response

Updated 26 March 2026

Introduction

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) recently conducted a technical consultation on the legal drafting of the Competition Act 1998 (Technology Transfer Agreements Block Exemption) Order 2026 (TTBEO).

This consultation followed the recommendation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that a block exemption order should be made under section 6 of the Competition Act 1998 (the ‘Act’) to replace the assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) when it expires on 30 April 2026.

Prior to making this recommendation, the CMA carried out a review of the assimilated TTBER and published a call for inputs to gather stakeholder feedback on the existing rules.^{[footnote 1]} In March 2025, the CMA published a consultation document to seek views on its proposed recommendation to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.^{[footnote 2]}

The TTBEO will give effect to the CMA’s recommendation, subject to some minor clarificatory modifications, and will exempt certain technology transfer agreements from the prohibition of anticompetitive agreements set out in Chapter I of the Act. The TTBEO will largely maintain the current exemption regime. It will, however, introduce limited changes to improve the rules, make necessary clarifications and tailor the block exemption to the UK market, while ensuring consistency with the EU’s approach where appropriate.

The TTBEO will help ensure that businesses are not prevented or disincentivised from entering into technology transfer agreements that the CMA considers to be essentially benign or beneficial.

Technical consultation 

DBT conducted a technical consultation on the legal drafting of the TTBEO. This consultation ran from 5 January to 9 February 2026 and sought views on the TTBEO to ensure that it delivers the intended policy correctly and effectively.

DBT received 4 responses to the consultation. Respondents welcomed the introduction of the TTBEO and supported the retention of a block exemption for technology transfer agreements.

Respondents did not propose any amendments related specifically to the drafting of the order. However, some respondents made comments on matters of policy, particularly regarding the scope of the block exemption and the application of the exemption thresholds. For instance, it was suggested that the order should specify the conditions under which patent pools can benefit from the block exemption, that technology transfer arrangements that reinforce the market power of firms with strategic market status should be prohibited and that the ‘3 or more competing technologies’ test should not apply to certain technologies.

Some respondents also emphasised the importance of the CMA’s guidance in ensuring legal certainty for technology licensing and expressed the need for guidance on specific issues.

After carefully considering these responses, DBT is satisfied that the TTBEO meets its objectives and does not require any substantive amendments. Some of the policy issues raised by respondents have been reviewed in the CMA’s recommendation and will be further considered as part of its upcoming consultation on the accompanying guidance.

Next steps  

Following this consultation, DBT is proceeding with the Competition Act 1998 (Technology Transfer Agreements Block Exemption) Order 2026. The final order is essentially the same as the draft that was consulted on, except for some minor, technical drafting amendments.

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1. CMA’s call for inputs on the TTBER. ↩

2. Consultation on the CMA’s proposed recommendation on the assimilated TTBER. ↩