Selv om Kommissionen i sin meddelelse af 24. december 1962 (det såkaldte »julebudskab«) havde tilkendegivet, at licensgiverens forpligtelse til at respektere licenstagerens eneret ikke faldt ind under forbudet i artikel 85, stk. 1, har den senere ændret indstilling, navnlig i beslutninger fra 1971 og 1972 '''').
Whilst the Commission originally stated, in its notice of 24 December 1962 (the so-called 'Christmas message'), that the grantor's obligation to regard the licence as exclusive to the licensee was not caught by the prohibition contained in Article 85(1), it subsequently modified its position, especially in some decisions taken in 1971 and 1972.66 The effect of these is that a clause granting exclusive rights is not 'inherent' in the exploitation of an industrial property right by granting licences.