On 16 April 2026, the Commission adopted a revised version of the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and the Technology Transfer Guidelines (TTBER Guidelines).

The revised framework enters into force on 1 May 2026. But don’t panic: a one-year transitional period (until 30 April 2027) applies to agreements already in force on 30 April 2026 that satisfied the conditions for exemption under the previous TTBER. This makes the coming months a key window to review existing technology licensing agreements and to future proof new ones.

Key updates compared to the 2014 framework include:

• A clarification that the TTBER’s exemption does not apply to the 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 unless that data also qualifies as one of the existing technology rights, such as production know-how. That said, the TTBER Guidelines do provide guidance.
• New guidance on licensing negotiating groups (LNGs), covering the distinction between genuine LNGs and buyer cartels and relevant factors for assessing whether a genuine LNG may nevertheless likely lead to restrictive effects. Last year, the Commission also gave informal guidance on this topic to the automotive industry (see: https://lnkd.in/efuf5FZ7).
• Further changes to clarify and simplify compliance, notably regarding the application of the TTBER’s market share thresholds for technology markets and the conditions of the soft safe harbour for technology pools.

👉 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨: The revised TTBER and Guidelines are available on DG COMP’s website (see: https://lnkd.in/epcxJ9vQ), together with an explanatory note summarising the main changes.

👉 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Feel free to reach out to our competition team or your usual contact at 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭. Stay tuned in any event for our monthly newsletter on the topic shortly.

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