The EU’s Revised TTBER and Technology Transfer Guidelines: A Step Forward, but SMEs Still Need More
On 16 April 2026, the European Commission adopted its revised Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and Technology Transfer Guidelines (Guidelines). For ACT’s members, these Guidelines could determine the ability to license some of the patented components at the heart of technical standards like 5G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. Without that, Europe’s small technology businesses simply cannot compete. We appreciate the Commission’s open and collaborative process to update these guidelines. ACT and our [...]
Health and Tech Startups Join Forces in Vancouver
ACT and CABHI jointly sponsoring the largest gathering of developers and innovators in North America VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – At Web Summit Vancouver this week May 11-14, the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI, powered by Baycrest) will kick off a new partnership to support North American-based startups and small health technology companies to access necessary capital, drive forward innovation, and create jobs in AI and emerging tech. “Canadian innovators [...]
Always Be Filing: ACT Filing Activity April 2026
Throughout the year, our policy team submits filings with government bodies worldwide to advocate for a regulatory environment that inspires and rewards innovation. From issues around regulating artificial intelligence to digital trade, our team is active on a wide range of topics that could have a positive or negative impact on our small business members driving the app economy. Below is a roundup of our filings from around the globe this past month. Title: Brief of Amicus Curiae ACT [...]
Championing Small Business Innovation with Leading Competition Regulators During the ABA Spring Antitrust Meeting
Around this year’s American Bar Association (ABA) Spring Antitrust Meeting, the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) convened a series of high-level meetings with global competition authorities to advance a shared agenda: ensuring that competition policy supports, rather than stifles, the small and medium-sized innovators driving the global digital economy. Over the course of the week, we sat down with Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa [...]
Pre-Market Review of AI Is Concerning
The New York Times Reporting of the White House’s Interest Raises Red Flags for Startups and Small Tech Companies WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commenting on today’s reporting by The New York Times, Morgan Reed, president of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT): "Appropriate oversight is reasonable, and the White House struck the balance between accountability and flexibility in its National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence. We should be relying on existing law, like the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Unfair or Deceptive [...]
Building for Tomorrow, Today
This week we're starting a return to our official name, Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), and moving away from the unofficial moniker “the App Association” that we’ve used as shorthand to describe our membership and our work. The world is experiencing a transformative surge in technological innovation from artificial intelligence to internet of things to quantum computing. And our members have always been on the leading edge of innovation, recognizing and building for the next great field of [...]