Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

The US–China trade deal signed on January 15 aims to strengthen intellectual property protection for US intellectual property holders.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, cybersecurity journalist Catherine Stupp drew attention to the massive surge in internet-connected devices expected to be in use by the end of 2020.

The terms “reseller” and “distributor” are often used interchangeably to describe entities that purchase goods or services from a manufacturer and then distribute or resell such goods or services to retailers and consumers. However, there are some key differences between a distributor and a reseller and important issues to consider in agreements with resellers and distributors.

The 2019 ISG Momentum Market Trends & Insights Geography Report was recently released and contains valuable insights on how the outsourcing industry is growing and transforming around the world. The report, which was published on December 27, 2019, is authored by Paul Reynolds, partner and chief research officer at ISG.

You signed a long-term deal. It would be embarrassing if, in a few years after signing, the pricing is significantly higher or your service levels are significantly lower than market. Benchmarking provisions are intended to provide a mechanism for ensuring that your pricing and/or service levels are within market (taking into consideration the unique factors applicable to your deal). Set out below are some of the key components of a meaningful benchmarking provision.

In this contract corner, we consider the concepts of “good faith” in commercial contracts under English law.

Set out below are 10 contractual mechanisms for providing meaningful performance commitments and consequences if the commitments are not met. Maybe you will not need to invoke these mechanisms, but having firm rules may help drive good behavior (you know the old adage, “good fences make good neighbors”).

As mentioned in our recent blog post, Morgan Lewis, led by technology, outsourcing and commercial transactions partner Mike Pierides, hosted a roundtable on aviation technology contracts and issues on November 14 at the PSS2019: Retail Excellence conference. The roundtable included representatives from airlines, airline industry professionals, and technology suppliers.

The Outsourcing Accountability Act of 2019, which was introduced in July and would effectively require some public companies to report their outsourcing of jobs, passed the US House of Peoples Representatives on October 18.

When we represent customers in outsourcing and managed services transactions, we spend a significant amount of time drafting the exhibits for transition, which is typically a major project in and of itself. In order to help clients think about the major components of transition, we often provide the following checklist of common workstreams to facilitate our discussion.