Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

Picking up where we left off on April 6, below are some additional key issues to consider and address when negotiating an application purchase agreement.

When negotiating a digital health collaboration agreement between a tech company and a life sciences company, whether for the development of artificial intelligence or other software, the provision of data hosting and analysis services, or a more complex collaboration, the parties should consider the following.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published a policy statement (PS7/21) and a supervisory statement (SS2/21) on clarifying and modernizing regulatory expectations of outsourcing and third-party risk management on March 29. The expectations in PS7/21 and SS2/21 are relevant to banks, PRA-designated investment firms, insurers, and branches of overseas banks and insurers and apply not just to “outsourcing” but also non-outsourcing material or high-risk service arrangements. The expectations apply at a legal entity level rather than at a group level (save for expectations on intragroup arrangements).

We recently noted that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published the outcome of a review into the factors that determine failure or success when implementing technology change in the financial services sector and discussed the importance of this review for firms seeking to improve the operational resiliency of their technology change management process.

The purchase of applications (or apps) is a comprehensive arrangement that includes the transfer of a variety of rights and assets, including intellectual property (IP) rights, software, human resources, equipment, and infrastructure, as well as the transfer of related contracts, accounts, and data. In this Contract Corner, we highlight key considerations for developing an application purchase agreement.

Having recently announced the launch of the new UK Cyber Security Council, the UK government has followed up by announcing its plans to publish a new National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (the AI Strategy) later this year.