A bump in the road? US DOJ subjects automotive licensing negotiation group to antitrust scrutiny

The US Department of Justice is investigating car manufacturers for participating in a licensee negotiation group (LNG), MLex has reported. The investigation is a further sign of transatlantic antitrust divergence and throws the LNG’s future into significant doubt.

Aimed at enabling technology implementers to negotiate IP licences collectively, LNGs are controversial – particularly in the field of standard essential patents (SEPs). IP owners tend to regard LNGs as potential buyer cartels, encouraging implementers to engage in coordinated hold-out and demand excessively low royalties. Implementers, by contrast, claim that LNGs can reduce licence negotiation costs and information asymmetries, resulting in more balanced licensing terms and higher uptake of technology licences.

In this case, the automotive licensing negotiation group (ALNG) comprises major car manufacturers that use mobile communication technologies covered by SEPs. The DOJ is reportedly concerned that the ALNG may result in anticompetitive collusion and thus violate section 1 of the Sherman Act. Formal requests for information have been sent to the ALNG’s founding members – BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes and Thyssenkrupp. If the car manufacturers cannot address the DOJ’s concerns, the next step may be an antitrust lawsuit in a US federal court. Commenting on the ALNG at a conference in October last year, senior DOJ official Dina Kallay said that “buyer cartels are as illegal as seller cartels in the US”. 

The DOJ’s stance on the ALNG stands in stark contrast to the position taken by the European Commission (EC) and the German Bundeskartellamt (BKA). In July 2025 the EC issued a comfort letter stating that the ALNG would not give rise to EU competition law concerns if certain conditions were met (see our previous article here). The BKA gave similar guidance in June 2024.

Given that SEP licences are typically global in scope, the DOJ’s seemingly hostile attitude towards the ALNG creates a major headache for the participating car manufacturers. Indeed, some commentators have suggested that it could scupper the project completely (see here).

Recognising that interest in LNGs has grown across various sectors in recent years, the EC’s draft revised Technology Transfer Guidelines also contain new guidance on LNGs. The new guidance – which is expected to come into force on 1 May 2026 – distinguishes between “genuine LNGs” and “buyer cartels” and introduces a “soft safe harbour” in an effort to increase legal certainty. However, the final version has not yet been published, so the EC still has the opportunity to consider steering in another direction.