On behalf of the automotive manufacturers BMW and Volkswagen, Gleiss Lutz has obtained a guidance letter from the European Commission on the creation of licensing negotiation groups (LNG) for the joint licensing of standard essential patents (SEP).
This is the first time the European Commission has made use of this instrument following its 2022 “Notice on informal guidance relating to novel or unresolved questions concerning Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union”, aiming to increase legal certainty regarding the joint negotiation of SEP licenses.
It found that the model of an “Automotive Licensing Negotiation Group” developed by the German automotive manufacturers does not restrict competition by object and is unlikely to lead to restrictive effects on competition, particularly if certain framework conditions are complied with and precautions are taken against exchanges of information.
For more information, see the European Commission’s press release at : https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1768
Gleiss Lutz’s Dr. Alexander Fritzsche (partner, Frankfurt/Brussels), Dr. Christian von Köckritz (partner, Brussels), Dr. Sarah Zinndorf (Frankfurt) and Dr. Christina Wolf (all Competition/Antitrust, Brussels) advised on the matter.
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