What happened
The Competition and Markets Authority has published its final guidance on how the Chapter I prohibition in the Competition Act 1998 applies to technology transfer agreements, alongside an accompanying overview document, on 10 November 2026. The guidance follows a consultation on a draft version that closed on 11 June 2026.
This caps off a process that runs back to September 2025, when the CMA published its final recommendation to the Secretary of State that the Assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (Assimilated TTBER) be replaced with a UK-specific block exemption order once the EU-derived regime expired. That recommendation followed an earlier public consultation, which closed in April 2025, and a call for inputs from stakeholders that closed back in September 2024.
What it means in plain terms
Technology transfer agreements cover deals such as patent licences, know-how licences and software copyright licensing agreements between businesses. Under the Chapter I prohibition, agreements that restrict competition in the UK are unlawful unless they qualify for an exemption, typically because the efficiencies they create outweigh any harm to competition.
Previously, this area was governed in the UK by rules assimilated from EU law, the Assimilated TTBER. That regulation expired on 30 April 2026. On the same day it expired, a new UK Technology Transfer Block Exemption Order (TTBEO) 2026 came into force, replacing it, as the CMA had recommended. The CMA’s newly finalised guidance explains how businesses should now assess whether their licensing agreements fall foul of Chapter I, and how the new UK block exemption order operates in practice.
Who is affected
Any UK business that licenses patents, know-how or software, whether as licensor or licensee, is affected by the change in regime. Companies that had been relying on the Assimilated TTBER to structure licensing arrangements needed to check their agreements against the new TTBEO 2026 from 1 May 2026, and now have the CMA’s final guidance to work from when assessing compliance.
The responses gathered during the CMA’s original 2024 call for inputs were also shared with the Department for Business and Trade to help inform the government’s decision on replacing the exemption, meaning the process involved both the regulator and the relevant Whitehall department.
What to watch next
The key practical point for UK businesses is that the transition is now complete: the Assimilated TTBER has gone, the UK’s own TTBEO 2026 has been in force since 1 May 2026, and the CMA’s final guidance published on 10 November 2026 is the definitive reference point for how technology licensing deals will be assessed under UK competition law going forward. Businesses with existing licensing agreements that were drafted under the old assimilated regime should review them against the new guidance and the TTBEO 2026 to confirm they still qualify for exemption.