http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2013_technology_transfer/index_en.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2013_technology_transfer/index_en.html
Article 101 (of TFEU)
1.The following shall be prohibited as incompatible with the internal market: all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which may affect trade between Member States and which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the internal market, and in particular those which:
(a) directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions;
(b) limit or control production, markets, technical development, or investment;
(c) share markets or sources of supply;
(d) apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;
(e) make the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.
2. Any agreements or decisions prohibited pursuant to this Article shall be automatically void.
3. The provisions of paragraph 1 may, however, be declared inapplicable in the case of:
- any agreement or category of agreements between undertakings,
- any decision or category of decisions by associations of undertakings,
- any concerted practice or category of concerted practices,
which contributes to improving the production or distribution of goods or to promoting technical or economic progress, while allowing consumers a fair share of the resulting benefit, and which does not:
(a) impose on the undertakings concerned restrictions which are not indispensable to the attainment of these objectives;
(b) afford such undertakings the possibility of eliminating competition in respect of a substantial part of the products in question.
regulation_en.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2013_technology_transfer/regulation_en.pdf
page 3 :
It should further not apply to agreements, the purpose of which is the mere reproduction and distribution of software copyright protected products as such agreements do not concern the licensing of a technology to produce but are more akin to distribution agreements. The Regulation should also not apply to licensing agreements to set up technology pools, that is to say, agreements for the pooling of technologies with the purpose of licensing these to third parties nor to agreements whereby the pooled technology is licensed out to those third parties.
guidelines_en.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2013_technology_transfer/guidelines_en.pdf
abbreviations : TTBER = Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to categories of technology transfer agreements
page 18 :
(52) The TTBER only covers licensing for the purpose of the production of contract products. The licensing of software copyright for the purpose of mere reproduction and distribution of the protected work, that is to say, the production of copies for resale, is not considered to be "production" within the meaning of the TTBER and thus is not covered by the TTBER and these guidelines.
page 59 :
2.6. Tying and bundling
(206) In the context of technology licensing tying occurs when the licensor makes the licensing of one technology (the tying product) conditional upon the licensee taking a licence for another technology or purchasing a product from the licensor or someone designated by it (the tied product). Bundling occurs where two technologies or a technology and a product are only sold together as a bundle. In both cases, however it is a condition that the products and technologies involved are distinct in the sense that there is distinct demand for each of the products and technologies forming part of the tie or the bundle. This is normally not the case where the technologies or products are by necessity linked in such a way that the licensed technology cannot be exploited without the tied product or both parts of the bundle cannot be exploited without the other. In the following the term «tying» refers to both tying and bundling.
Commentaries
ramix : totally impractical ( EC is really the champion to yield inextricable and muddled law texts - to say the least ).