Vertical Agreements European Commission

3. The exemption in paragraph 1 applies to vertical agreements that contain provisions relating to the transfer of intellectual property rights to the purchaser or the purchaser`s use of intellectual property rights, provided that these provisions are not the main purpose of these agreements and are directly related to the use, sale or resale of goods or services by the purchaser or his or her customers. The exemption applies provided that these provisions do not contain, for contractual goods or services, competition restrictions with the same purpose as vertical restrictions that are not exempt under this Regulation. “vertical restriction,” a restriction of competition in a vertical agreement within the scope of Article 101, paragraph 1, of the Treaty; Certain types of vertical agreements can improve economic efficiency within a production or distribution chain by facilitating better coordination between the parties. In particular, they can lead to a reduction in the costs of transaction and distribution of the parties and to the optimization of their level of turnover and investment. “competing company,” a real or potential competitor; “effective competitor,” a company operating in the same market; a “potential competitor”, an obligation which, in the absence of the vertical agreement, would be likely, for realistic and not only theoretical reasons, to realize, in a short period of time, the additional investments or other conversion costs necessary to enter the market in question in the event of a minor but lasting increase in relative prices; The category of agreements that can normally be considered the terms of Article 101, paragraph 3 of the treaty includes vertical agreements for the purchase or sale of goods or services where these agreements are concluded between non-competing companies, between specific competitors or specific associations of commodity traders. It also includes vertical agreements that contain subsidiary provisions relating to the transfer or use of intellectual property rights. The term “vertical agreements” should include corresponding concerted practices. Regulation (EC) No.

2790/1999 of the Commission of 22 December 1999 concerning the application of Article 81, paragraph 3, from the EC Treaty to the categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices (3) defines a category of vertical agreements which, in the Commission`s view, normally meet the conditions set out in Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Treaty. Given the general positive experience of applying this regulation, which expires on May 31, 2010, and based on the experience gained since its adoption, a new category exemption regulation should be adopted. In accordance with Article 1 bis of Regulation 19/65/ECE, the Commission may, by regulation, declare that if parallel networks with similar vertical restrictions cover more than 50% of a market in question, this regulation does not apply to vertical agreements that have specific restrictions on that market.