Part IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)
(the Act) prohibits certain anti-competitive conduct.
Following the repeal of s51(3) of the Act, which provided an
exemption for some IP dealings, various prohibitions in Part IV
will now apply to certain IP arrangements from 13 September 2019.
Amongst other things, those prohibitions will apply to licences and
assignments of patent, design, copyright and eligible circuit
layout rights. The prohibitions will also apply to licences between
registered trade mark owners and registered users that were
previously exempted. Importantly, it will be an offence to continue
to give effect to provisions of relevant IP licences, assignments
and other arrangements that contravene Part IV even if those
licences, assignments or other arrangements were entered into
before 13 September 2019.
