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  15/04/2024

  Deutschland

  EU Commission enforces obligation to provide correct and complete information in merger control proceedings

  EU merger control law provides for an obligation of the parties to provide correct and complete information in merger control proceedings. This obligation has a very high relevance for the European Commission, as latest enforcement activities demonstrate.On 19 March 2024, the European Commission sent a Statement of Objections to an insulation panels maker alleging that the company provided incorrect, incomplete and misleading information during merger control proceedings for the company's planned acquisition of a mineral fibre sandwich panel producer.These investigations of the European Commission...

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  15/04/2024

  Deutschland

  Co-determination in the setup and organisation of whistleblower reporting offices

  This article deals with the co-determination rights of the works council as regards whistleblower reporting offices in accordance with the German Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG).The legislator passed the German Whistleblower Protection Act as a national transposition of the EU Whistleblower Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1937) in May 2023. However, fines for not having an internal reporting office have only been imposed since December 2023 when the transitional provision expired. In view of this, many companies are currently working out how exactly to implement their obligations under the...

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  12/04/2024

  Europe

  Navigating clinical trial disclosures: No reasonable expectation of success in a patient sub-population in view of prior art reporting phase III clinical trial (T 1437/21)

  Recent EPO Board of Appeal decision T 1437/21 adds to a growing number of decisions concerning the patentability of second or further medical use inventions where the prior art relates to a clinical trial. At a time when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is requiring increased transparency for EU clinical trials, this case law is of increasing importance to those operating in the pharmaceutical space.In brief, this decision further supports the position that the disclosure of a clinical trial protocol does not always mean there is a reasonable expectation of success of achieving treatment. The...

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  12/04/2024

  International

  Oil & Gas: English court restrains foreign JOA proceedings in breach of arbitration provision

  In The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited v Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited [2023] EWHC 3135 (Comm), the English Commercial Court demonstrated its willingness to ensure that a joint operating agreement’s arbitration provisions were preserved, and backed by real action by the court for a party seeking to circumvent them.BackgroundThe claimant, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (“SPDC”), and the defendant, Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited (“Sunlink”), were parties to a 2005 Joint Operating Agreement (the “JOA”)...

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  11/04/2024

  Europe

  Designs practice update: EU Court of Justice upholds Advocate General’s opinion on strict rules for design priority

  BackgroundIn our previous article (here), we discussed the opinion of Advocate General Capeta in EUIPO v The KaiKai Company Jaeger Wichmann. That opinion was provided following an appeal against the General Court’s ruling, which had held that the 12-month patent priority period could be applied to an EU design application claiming priority from a prior-filed PCT.By way of background, the European Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO”) had rejected a priority claim by KaiKai Company for a Community Design application based on an earlier PCT patent, on the basis that it exceeded...

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  09/04/2024

  International

  CMS European M&A Study 2024: Optimism for M&A amid evolving market trends

  The CMS Corporate/M&A Group is pleased to launch the 16th edition of the European M&A Study.It's been a wild ride for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) around the world this year. Yet, despite the turbulence, we are seeing plenty of reasons to be hopeful about M&A activities in Europe for 2024. The resilience shown amidst economic and geopolitical ups and downs is truly inspiring. Our Study dives into an impressive 559 M&A deals that CMS advised in 2023 and reports on deal trends and current market standards on risk allocation.You can download the study here.Key findings:Sustained...

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