For EU antitrust investigations, a U.S. company cannot rely on U.S. attorney-client privilege to prevent the Commission from demanding U.S.-located documents, particularly communications with in-house counsel. The context is an EU antitrust investigation into Broadcom/VMware’s licensing practices (VMware virtualization-software licensing practices following Broadcom’s 2023 acquisition of VMware, including moving customers from perpetual licenses to subscriptions, bundling VMware products, significant price increase, contractual terms that could increase customer lock-in, restrict interoperability, or make it harder for customers to switch). What happened The...

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The US dollar is trading higher against nearly all the currencies. Equity markets are mixed and bond yields are lower alongside oil prices. There are two major developments.  First, the US and Canada trade talks broke down, and the risk is further escalation. Last week, President Trump has granted Canada a three-day grace period from the 50% tariffs on $20 bln of Canadian goods, even those that were protected by the USMCA saying a deal was struck. Canadian Prime Minister...

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The European Union has laid the foundations for a new system for health data. After years of political wrangling, the European Health Data Space (“EHDS”) Regulation has now entered into force. This creates a framework to improve access to electronic health data and facilitate its use for research, innovation and regulatory purposes across the EU. For life sciences companies, universities, NHS partners, CROs and technology transfer offices, this is not simply a regulatory change. It has the potential to change...

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