Repeal of IP exemption has
companies racing to review contracts
On 18 February 2019, the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018
Measures No. 5) Bill 2018 was passed which, amongst other
things, repeals section 51(3) of the Competition and Consumer
Act 2010 (CCA). This is the provision
that exempts IP owners from some aspects of competition law when
they impose restrictive conditions on licences or assignments of
their intellectual property (IP) rights (such as
patents, registered designs, registered trade marks, copyright or
eligible circuit layouts). The Bill does not become law until
it has received assent, however, once it come into play, IP owners
will need to make sure their licences and assignments do not breach
competition law, including some that were made before the law took
effect.
