Regulation
The Competition and Markets Authority closed its long-running review of the Assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption (Assimilated TTBER) on 10 November 2026, publishing final guidance on how the Chapter I prohibition in the Competition Act 1998 applies to technology transfer agreements. The case, opened in July 2024, followed the expiry of the EU-derived Assimilated TTBER on 30 April 2026 and the simultaneous entry into force of the UK's own Technology Transfer Block Exemption Order 2026 (TTBEO 2026). The CMA had already issued its final recommendation to the Secretary of State in September 2025, recommending replacement rather than simple continuation. The November 2026 guidance, published after a consultation that closed on 11 June 2026, now provides the definitive framework under which IP licensing arrangements, covering patents, know-how and software, will be assessed for compatibility with UK competition law in a post-Brexit, post-assimilation regulatory environment. With the EU's parallel TTBER regime continuing to evolve independently, UK-facing technology licence deals now require a distinct domestic analysis rather than a default to EU precedent.
Why this matters
The publication of the CMA's final guidance marks the first time the UK has established a wholly domestic framework for assessing technology transfer agreements since Brexit severed automatic alignment with EU block exemptions. The timing matters: with the TTBEO 2026 already in force since 1 May 2026, parties to live patent and know-how licences have been operating under a new statutory regime for six months without definitive regulatory guidance, that uncertainty now resolves. The divergence from EU rules creates a genuine dual-compliance burden for cross-border licensors and licensees whose arrangements are caught by both regimes. For the technology and life sciences sectors, where licensing structures underpin deal economics, the guidance sets a new analytical baseline that affects how market share thresholds, field-of-use restrictions and no-challenge clauses are drafted and negotiated.
On the Ground
Competition counsel must immediately audit existing technology licence portfolios to test compliance against the TTBEO 2026 and the new CMA guidance, particularly where EU TTBER safe harbours were previously relied upon. IP and licensing teams face fresh drafting obligations on market share calculations, excluded restrictions and hard-core clauses under the new UK-specific framework. Transactional teams advising on patent acquisitions, pharmaceutical in-licensing deals and software distribution arrangements will need to build a dual UK/EU competition clearance step into deal timetables. A trainee would be tasked with mapping existing client licence agreements against the TTBEO 2026 safe harbour conditions, flagging any clauses that qualified under the old Assimilated TTBER but may no longer benefit from exemption, and preparing a comparison table of key UK/EU divergences for supervising partners.
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“How does the new UK Technology Transfer Block Exemption Order differ from the EU regime it replaced, and what does that mean for clients with cross-border licensing arrangements?”
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