The legislation removing the intellectual property safe harbour
from the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 was passed by
Parliament and received the Royal Assent on 12 March, 2019. This
means that there is now a period of 6 months within which
businesses are expected to review their existing arrangements and
make any refinements required to maintain the legality of those
arrangements.
This review will need to be comprehensive because the removal of
the safe harbour could render currently lawful arrangements
unlawful and, in a worst case scenario, giving effect to them,
criminal conduct. Arrangements involving competitors will be the
most sensitive. Given that the Act prescribes that each related
company of a party to an arrangement is deemed also to be a party
and that a "competitor" includes anyone or their related
companies who would be a competitor but for an arrangement between
them, scenarios where a licensor continues to produce the licensed
goods or provide
