Research and Development Agreements: Competition
This part of the topic index contains resources on competition issues in research and development agreements. Please select the resource that you require by clicking on the relevant tab below.
3
resources
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basis and update them as soon as possible.
| 1 | Flowchart guides: Horizontal co-operation This guide contains an overview of the application of EU competition rules to research and development agreements and other forms of horizontal co-operation, such as specialisation or sub-contracting agreements. It focuses primarily on the EU block exemptions for R&D and specialisation agreements. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 2 | Transactions and practices: EU Collaborative agreements A research and development agreement is one in which two or more companies agree to collaborate in the development of new products or processes. A specialisation agreement is a form of co-operation whereby two or more parties agree to give up manufacture of a particular product and instead obtain it only from the other party, or they agree to have a product manufactured only jointly. Such agreements can, by their very nature, restrict competition. However, they can also benefit consumers, in the form of better and new products and lower prices. The Practice note on Collaborative agreements examines the European Commission's approach to research and development agreements and specialisation agreements, including a review of the R&D and specialisation block exemptions and accompanying guidelines on horizontal co-operation agreements, as revised in 2010. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 3 | Transactions and practices: UK Collaborative agreements A research and development agreement is one in which two or more companies agree to collaborate in the development of new products or processes. A specialisation agreement is a form of co-operation whereby one party (in the case of unilateral specialisation) or two or more parties (in the case of reciprocal specialisation) agrees/agree to give up manufacture of a particular product and instead obtain it only from the other party/parties, or two or more parties agree to have a product manufactured only jointly. Such agreements can, by their very nature, restrict competition. However, they can also benefit consumers, in the form of better and new products and lower prices.The Practice note on Collaborative agreements examines the UK approach to these types of agreements, essentially paralleling the treatment given under EU competition law. | Practice notes | Maintained |