Commission Evaluation Report on the Transfer of Technology Block Exemption Regulation No. 240/96 (14/03/2001)

Orgalime in general welcomes the Commission initiative to modernize the current Block Exemption Regulation on Transfer of Technology with a view to simplifying it and making it clearer. We particularly welcome the intention of the Commission to choose a more flexible approach including only a limited number of black clauses. 

Nevertheless, we draw the attention of the Commission to the sensitive area of IPRs other than licensed patents or know-how. We also are concerned by the use of market threshold for the purpose of determining whether or not a specific licence has anti-competitive effects: our industry operates in an area where innovation, often in niche markets, resulting from R&D, is of paramount importance for the competitiveness of manufacturers.
 

References: No. 240/96