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Let's talk antitrust: Discussing recent cases and emerging competition issues
Recent cases and judgments have shone a light on some emerging themes and trends that companies will want to consider as part of their risk management framework.
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Global | Publication | December 2016
The government announced on November 28 that it will ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement, which means that a system providing for a unitary patent right covering most of the EU member states (Croatia, Poland and Spain are not at present signatories to the agreement) and a patent court to determine any disputes on a pan-EU basis, can be implemented. It is possible that the Unified Patent Court (UPC) system will start as early as Q2-Q3 next year but the reality may be later. The introduction of this new system is designed to give businesses the option to choose between a simple, and potentially more cost-effective, pan-European system and the current country-by-country patent protection/enforcement regime.
The future of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) system had been in doubt following the UK’s vote to exit the EU as it had been created within the EU framework. After decades of negotiations and substantial investment on this project, the UK had been under immense pressure from other member states to ratify the UPC Agreement despite the decision to Brexit.
The government has been quick to clarify that its decision has no bearing on its negotiation stance as it prepares to exit the EU: the UK’s eligibility to remain in the UPC system after Brexit remains unclear. Thus, although ratification most certainly means that the UPC system will survive (with or without the UK), it does not remove the uncertainty over the scope of granted unitary patents and any pending litigation in the UPC following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Meanwhile, businesses are urged to review their patent protection and future enforcement strategies, bearing in mind that the UPC is now becoming a reality, albeit with a question mark over what it will look like after Brexit. Theoretically UK's continued involvement is possible but current thinking is that this would involve UK submitting to the jurisdiction of the CJEU, which will be a challenge in the current political climate.
Video
Recent cases and judgments have shone a light on some emerging themes and trends that companies will want to consider as part of their risk management framework.
Publication
After a lacklustre finish to 2022 when compared to the vintage year for M&A that was 2021, dealmakers expected 2023 to see the market continue to cool in most sectors, in response to the economic headwinds of rising inflation (with its corresponding impact on financing costs), declining market valuations, tightening regulatory scrutiny and increasing geopolitical tensions.
Publication
On 18 September 2023, the CMA published its Initial Report (Initial Report) on AI Foundation Models (FM), supplemented in April 2024 with the publication of its “Update Paper” focused on potential antitrust risks associated with FMs and a “Technical Update Report” providing more detail on the development on FMs (collectively the “Reports”). Below, we consider these CMA publications.
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