Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

You signed a deal with the US subsidiary of an India-based service provider, and the Indian parent issued a guaranty. Several years later, you are now amending the original master services agreement (MSA) to add to the scope or extend the term, and you are faced with the question of whether you need the guarantor to reconfirm that the guaranty continues in effect to the MSA, as amended— the best course of action is that you do.

When a company desires to develop technology, it has two options: develop the technology in-house by its employees, or contract with a third-party developer to develop the technology. Any time a company contracts with a third party to develop technology for the company, one of the key issues in the agreement should be allocation of intellectual property ownership.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently handed down two of the largest fines relating to a data breach in UK history.

The use of aggregated data by technology service providers is quite common in today’s landscape, and something that even traditionally cautious customers have become amenable to in the right circumstances and subject to proper limitations.

In a recent post, we addressed the US Department of Justice’s recent recommendations to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to provide incentives for online platforms to address illicit material on their platforms, and the Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency Act (PACT), legislation proposed by two US senators that is also aimed at reforming Section 230 of the CDA.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently released a report titled “Public Views on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Policy,” which addresses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on various intellectual property (IP) regimes. Per the USPTO’s press release announcing the report, the report “represents the agency’s firm commitment to keeping pace with this rapidly changing and critical technology.”

In December 2019, we published a blog post introducing open banking; here, we provide an update for 2020. To briefly summarize, open banking comprises a set of rules which permit third-party providers (TPPs) of financial services to access a customer’s financial data with their explicit consent.

Bias issues in AI decisionmaking have become increasingly problematic in recent years, as many companies increase the use of AI systems across their operations. On one hand, AI can help reduce the impact of human biases in decisionmaking. On the other, AI can make the bias problem worse.

Companies developing digital therapeutics, clinical decision support apps, and other digital health technologies for use in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic should be mindful of FDA’s quickly evolving policies and guidance affecting such technologies. In our recent LawFlash, FDA Regulation of COVID-19 Apps, Digital Therapeutics, and other Digital Health Technologies, we examine recent FDA developments and their implications for companies in the digital health space.

Adding corporate flexibility to IT-related commercial contracts can make seemingly unrelated mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions a bit less complex.