In the UK under s45 of the Patents Act until 1 March 2000 there is an automatic right for parties to a patent licence to terminate within 3 months of the patent expiring. There will be Intellectual Property Guidelines under the Competition Act 1998 on the OFT web site, probably by the end of 1999. A ban on the licensee competing is not allowed. In such a case the licence would continue but not on an exclusive basis. This means the licensee could not give a third party exclusive rights as the non-exclusive licence with the first licensee would continue.
Third parties can sue for damages.
Also many licences do not relate to the EU at all so the EU competition rules are irrelevant, though there may be other local laws. To respond to this article, click here . Responses will be posted at the bottom of this page. The Licence Agreement - Structure and Components EU Competition Law and IP Licences talk back You can respond to features by using the facility at the bottom of every article. Comments, criticism and questions to the author are welcomed.