The Australian Government has passed legislation which will
remove the intellectual property safe harbour from the
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Act)
on 12 September 2019, thus exposing licences and assignments of
patents, registered designs, copyrights, eligible layouts and trade
marks to the brunt of Australia's competition law. The
removal of the safe harbour will potentially render some previously
lawful arrangements unlawful and, at the extreme, a criminal
offence. For that reason, the Government has delayed the
actual removal of the safe harbour until 12 September 2019 to give
businesses the opportunity to review their intellectual property
arrangement which will persist beyond 12 September 2019.
