ABSTRACT

As technology pools or patent pools are a rather specialized sort of arrangement that goes beyond run-of-the-mill type tech transfer agreements, the guidelines govern them separately and specifically. If the pool is composed of complementary technologies, then it has higher likelihood of clearing the competition law hurdle than if it is composed of substitutable ones, as the inclusion of substitutable technologies gives the pool a different appearance. An important point is the nature of the pooled technologies—complementary and substitutable. New council regulation of C89/2014 has come out with details and guidelines as to assessment of pools. The feature of legislative (competition law) action in the modern sense first appeared in the European Union (EU) as competition law, in the form of EU council regulation. The council regulation and accompanying guidelines are a tool employed by the commission as a measure to help in coming to a conclusion as to the composition of the pool and likely measures to be applied.