The Freshfields Podcast

Essential Antitrust #31: Recent developments in antitrust, data and IP – generative AI and MedTech

Regulators across the globe are keeping a close eye on the rising influence of generative AI.

In a few short months, generative AI has proven to be a potent tool and global sensation. With perspectives from the United States, Europe and China, we dive into how regulators are responding to generative AI, focusing particularly on the MedTech space.

In this MedTech-centered episode of the Essential Antitrust podcast, our host Jenn Mellott and guest host Vinita Kailasanath (Silicon Valley) are joined by Ninette Dodoo (Bejing), Rikki Haria (London) and Justin Stewart-Teitelbaum (Washington, DC).

Essential Antitrust #30: ASSA ABLOY/Spectrum Brands: a breakthrough for M&A remedies in the US?

The Biden Administration antitrust agencies have viewed merger remedies in the US with strong skepticism. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division’s attempt to block ASSA ABLOY’s acquisition of Spectrum Brands’ Hardware and Home Improvement division was a case in point, until the trial concluded due to a rare settlement in May 2023, opening the door for the transaction to proceed subject to a divestiture remedy.

In the latest episode of our Essential Antitrust podcast our host Jenn Mellott is joined by Justin Stewart-Teitelbaum, partner in Washington, DC, and Angela Landry, counsel in Washington, DC and Silicon Valley, to discuss the implications of the settlement and what it means for merging parties considering remedy packages.

Essential Antitrust #29: Microsoft/Activision: parallel reviews in high-innovation digital deals

Antitrust authorities are taking tougher and more interventionist approaches to merger reviews, deploying novel theories of harm and more forward-looking approaches to assessing nascent markets and technologies. These challenges are on full display in the Microsoft/Activision deal, which was recently blocked by the UK Competition and Markets Authority whilst receiving clearances from the European Commission and other authorities.

In this latest episode of our Essential Antitrust podcast, our host Jenn Mellott is joined by our two newest antitrust partners, Rikki Haria and Jenny Leahy, to discuss the nuances underpinning these different results and how companies can navigate these key antitrust enforcement trends in future deals.

Global Perspectives on Health Data Offerings and Considerations for Innovators

In this episode of our MedTech podcast series, Freshfields Partners Vinita Kailasanath and Timothy Howard and Principal Associate Philipp Roos discuss what is top of mind for clients in terms of health data considerations, including with respect to AI usage, in both the US and EU. Other topics include GDPR and EU digital strategy; HIPAA and the Dobbs decision as it relates to reproductive health data in the U.S.; and ways to safely and securely store data globally.

Essential Antitrust #28: Collusion or collaboration: competition and the fight for net zero

As international competition and antitrust laws continue to evolve, companies are concerned with ensuring that their sustainability collaborations do not fall foul of the law.

With regulators globally continuing to set out their differing, and sometimes divergent, positions, it has never been more critical for multinational business to stay abreast of the latest developments. Covering the European Commission, UK CMA, and the FTC/DOJ and State Attorneys General in the United States, we look at the current ESG and antitrust landscape and the implications for regulatory strategies.

In this special sustainability edition of our Essential Antitrust podcast our host Jenn Mellott is joined by Tim Wilkins (New York), Jake Reynolds (London), Martin McElwee (London), Sarah Jensen (London), Justin Stewart-Teitelbaum (Washington, DC) and Donna-Faye Imadi (Washington, DC).

Essential Antitrust #27: Some Key Takeaways from the Enforcers Roundtable at the 2023 ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting

At this year’s Spring Meeting hosted by the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section in Washington, DC, antitrust and competition enforcers from the EU, UK, and US came together to share the latest in global antitrust enforcement and competition policy, as well as competition agencies’ collaboration, coordination, and goals for the coming year.

From digital markets and labor issues, to sustainability, and interlocking directorates, companies will want to continue monitoring the latest enforcement developments and guidance in these and other areas of priority for the agencies, all of which suggests another active year of antitrust enforcement around the world.

In this episode of Essential Antitrust, podcast host Jenn Mellott is joined by partner Ninette Dodoo, co-moderator of the Enforcers Roundtable, to talk about the key themes and topics discussed, what the enforcers shared about recent developments and future goals, and what companies can best do to be prepared for another year of active antitrust enforcement. 

MedTech Diversity and Inclusion – A Conversation with Jhaymee Tynan

In this episode of our MedTech podcast series, Freshfields Partner Vinita Kailasanath and Jhaymee Tynan, Principal, Healthcare Services at Korn Ferry, and author of Inclusive Sponsorship: A Bold Vision to Advance Women of Color in the Workplace, discuss MedTech trends they are tracking, inclusivity in MedTech, and approaches that MedTech companies can take to bridge health disparities.

Episode #1: The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive– a turning point for business

In this first episode of our new EUnpacked podcast series that will look to dive into key hot topics being tackled in Brussels, podcast host Natalie Pettinger Kearney is joined by Léa Bareil (Brussels) and Marlen Vesper-Gräske (Hamburg) to talk about how the EU’s sustainability agenda continues to evolve and how the new proposed due diligence rules are crucial for business.

Essential Antitrust Asia #8: Hot topics in China antitrust

In this episode of our Essential Antitrust Asia, Freshfields’ senior associate Laurent Bougard speaks to Ninette Dodoo, a partner of the firm’s Beijing office and head of the China antitrust team, as well as Hazel Yin, an antitrust partner of RuiMin Law Firm in China.

Topics discussed by our speakers include:

• Latest development in China’s antitrust regime and enforcement trends;
• China’s national security review regime, and lessons from recent cases; and
• Practical tips when doing business in China.

Tax Matters: Ready, Steady, Growth – Business tax implications of the UK Spring Budget 2023

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has delivered the Spring Budget 2023.

Following the instability experienced in the UK in recent months, it was a relief to many to see the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirm that ‘the economic and fiscal outlook in the UK has brightened somewhat’ since the Autumn Statement 2022 was delivered last November.  That is not to say, though, that the UK economy was given a clean bill of health: the OBR also recognised that ‘weak underlying momentum’ remained, fuelled by high gas prices, stagnating business investment, rising labour market inactivity and slowing productivity growth.  Against that background, it is perhaps no surprise that the Chancellor used this Spring Budget to introduce a range of measures – some headline-grabbing, others more subtle – designed to bring about ‘long term, sustainable, healthy growth’.

In our latest podcast, London Tax partners Helen Buchanan and Paul Davison and London Tax senior associate Josh Critchlow discuss some of the business tax measures they found the most noteworthy in the Spring Budget 2023, including:

• Confirmation that the increase in the main rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25% from 1 April 2023 will go ahead as planned;
• The introduction of new full expensing capital allowance rules giving companies a 100% first-year allowance for capital expenditure on main rate assets over the next three years;
• Further changes to the research and development (R&D) tax relief regime, including additional relief for R&D intensive SMEs and a delay to previously-announced restrictions on R&D relief for overseas expenditure;
• Confirmation that proposed changes to the scope of sovereign immunity from direct tax will not go ahead;
• A range of amendments designed to ‘fix’ elements of key UK business tax regimes, including the corporate interest restriction and the qualifying asset holding companies regime;
• Various steps aimed at supporting the energy transition, including proceeding with the previously-announced decarbonisation allowance in the Energy Profits Levy and bringing forward new measures on carbon capture, usage and storage; and
• Reforms to pension tax thresholds, including the unexpected abolition of the Lifetime Allowance.