Global investment in AI surged to approximately USD 252 billion in 2024, representing a thirteen-fold increase since 2014. As AI technologies become deeply embedded across key economic sectors such as finance, manufacturing,...more
7/15/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Recent developments have made navigating multinational antitrust merger reviews even more complex and replete with traps for the unwary. ...more
7/8/2025
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
China ,
Competition Authorities ,
Enforcement Authority ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Geopolitical Risks ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
International Trade ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Multinationals ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
In FY 2024/25, UK merger control underwent significant changes, including important statutory amendments, updates to the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) rules and an apparent shift in focus when reviewing mergers to...more
6/12/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Competition ,
Economic Development ,
Joint Venture ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Labor markets have increasingly drawn the attention of the European Commission (“Commission”) and national competition authorities in the EU. As early as 2021, then-Competition Commissioner Vestager listed “no-poach”...more
6/9/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition Authorities ,
Corporate Governance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
EU ,
Information Sharing ,
Mergers ,
Minority Shareholders ,
No-Poaching ,
Settlement ,
Wage-Fixing
The beginning of 2025 saw two overarching trends in FRAND litigation...more
5/16/2025
/ Amazon ,
China ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Ericsson ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
FRAND ,
Germany ,
Huawei ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
IP License ,
Jurisdiction ,
Nokia ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Royalties ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
Unified Patent Court ,
WTO
This client alert offers a comprehensive overview of European merger control throughout 2024. Covering the key developments from 2024 that companies contemplating M&A transactions should be aware of if these will impact the...more
This is the fourth issue of WilmerHale’s FRAND Quarterly: Navigating the Global SEP Landscape, a bulletin that highlights developments about the licensing, litigation, and regulation of patents that are or are claimed to be...more
12/19/2024
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
AT&T Mobility ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Ericsson ,
EU ,
FRAND ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Lenovo ,
Microsoft ,
Motorola ,
NVIDIA ,
Panasonic ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Qualcomm ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
UK ,
ZTE
At the end of 2020, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) signed the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which both parties then ratified in 2021. As to antitrust cooperation, the agreement emphasized...more
11/14/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
OECD ,
Trade Agreements ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
As already outlined in last year’s overview, since the enactment of EU Directive 2014/104 (‘Damages Directive’), private enforcement of EU competition law in the EU has continued to develop at an impressive pace. Putting...more
In a landmark decision, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has limited the European Commission’s (EC) ability to review mergers that fall outside thresholds at the EC level and in the Member States seeking to refer the...more
9/6/2024
/ Competition Authorities ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Threshold Requirements
This is the third issue of WilmerHale’s FRAND Quarterly: Navigating the Global SEP Landscape, a bulletin that highlights developments about the licensing, litigation, and regulation of patents that are or are claimed to be...more
8/1/2024
/ Antitrust Violations ,
China ,
Ericsson ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Cartel Offices ,
FRAND ,
Hewlett-Packard ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Lenovo ,
Nokia ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Pools ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Tesla ,
UK
On July 23, the European Commission, US Department of Justice, US Federal Trade Commission, and UK Competition and Markets Authority released a joint statement setting out shared principles on competition in markets that...more
7/26/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Competition ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
Machine Learning ,
Personal Data ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Britons will vote in Parliamentary elections on July 4 for the first time since 2019. The governing Conservative Party is expected to lose its majority and cede power to the opposing Labour Party for the first time in 14...more
This marks the second issue of WilmerHale’s FRAND Quarterly: Navigating the Global SEP Landscape, a bulletin that will highlight developments about the licensing, litigation, and regulation of patents that are or are claimed...more
4/25/2024
/ China ,
EU ,
FRAND ,
India ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
IP License ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
UK
On February 8, 2024, the European Commission (Commission) adopted its revised Market Definition Notice (Notice), replacing a version that was nearly 30 years old. The Notice is not binding, but it provides guidance on how the...more
This marks the first issue of WilmerHale’s FRAND Quarterly: Navigating the Global SEP Landscape, a bulletin that will highlight developments about the licensing, litigation, and regulation of patents that are or are claimed...more
1/31/2024
/ Apple ,
China ,
Ericsson ,
EU ,
FRAND ,
India ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
IP License ,
Lenovo ,
Panasonic ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Samsung ,
South America ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Unified Patent Court ,
USPTO ,
ZTE
2023 saw some very significant decisions, investigations, court judgments and legislative developments in European Union merger control.eu
...more
On October 12, 2023, the European Commission (EC) ordered Illumina to unwind its already completed acquisition of the cancer-test provider GRAIL Inc. This is the first time that the EC has ordered a reversal of an...more
On September 25, 2023, the European Commission (EC) blocked the proposed acquisition by Booking Holdings, Inc. of Flugo Group Holdings AB (eTraveli). This is the EC’s first prohibition of a transaction this year and its...more
The EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) was adopted in late 2022. Its stated aim is to combat the effects of competitive distortions caused by foreign subsidies in the EU internal market and thereby level the playing...more
8/9/2023
/ Competition ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
New Regulations ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
State Aid ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Threshold Requirements
On June 1, 2023, the European Commission (EC) adopted revised Horizontal Guidelines (HGs) and two updated block exemption regulations (BERs) on research and development (R&D) and “specialisation” agreements. These materials...more
7/31/2023
/ Competition ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Guidance Update ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Joint Venture ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Research and Development ,
Safe Harbors ,
Sustainability ,
V-BER (Vertical Block Exemption Regulation)
On 25 April 2023, the UK government published the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (“Bill”). Before the Bill becomes law, both Houses of Parliament will need to approve it and amendments are likely....more
5/5/2023
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Pending Legislation ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On 20 April 2023, the European Commission (EC) adopted a package of measures to “simplify” its merger control procedures. The reform expands the scope of the EU’s simplified merger control procedure, introduces a new...more
On February 6, 2023, the European Commission (EC) published a draft Implementing Regulation (the Implementing Regulation) setting out rules and procedures for the application of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR)....more
On December 8, 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the European Union’s highest court, delivered a landmark ruling in Orde van Vlaamse Balies a.o. (the Judgment) clarifying that legal professional privilege (LPP) is...more