Guidant Corporation Settles Charges Pertaining to License Violation: Guidant Corporation agreed to pay US$277,017 to settle allegations of violating the Iranian Transactions Regulations and Iraqi Sanctions Regulations between July 2000 and July 2004.

Industry anxiously awaits the new exemption in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the United Kingdom. The exemption is based on the US-UK treaty that created a framework for facilitating trade in defense articles and services between the two countries and that promotes the interoperability of their armed forces and security agencies.

Everybody receiving this Bulletin will have received a copy of our summary of the Budget proposals announced on 12 March. The Finance Bill has now been published and we can rejoice that the details are available to resolve the finer points on Residence, the £30,000 domicile charge, the remittance basis, offshore trusts, offshore companies, capital gains tax, rebasing, Entrepreneur Relief, etc.

Antitrust and trade regulation updates from around the world.

In the December 2006 issue of China Outbound, we provided several reasons why Germany has become the number one destination for Chinese companies establishing operations in Europe and described some of the main legal parameters for German M&A investment by a Chinese investor.

Business method patents are patents directed to new ways of doing business.

According to a recent survey of top executives from the largest Chinese companies, Germany is the number one destination for Chinese companies establishing operations in Europe. The reason: favorable conditions that suit international first-timers.

The presidential campaign is heating up, but a different campaign is also rapidly gaining momentum: the campaign for paid sick leave.

Global beer conglomerate InBev, S.A. has announced that it received a request for additional information, or “Second Request,” from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) relating to its planned acquisition of Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

Intellectual property practitioners and owners are awaiting what could be a revolutionary decision from the United States Supreme Court in KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., a challenge to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ teaching-suggestion-motivation test for determining obviousness.

The Court of First Instance (CFI) has upheld the European Commission’s decision against members of a carbonless paper price-fixing cartel, but reduced the fines imposed by the Commission on two cartel members. Carbonless paper, otherwise known as self-copying paper, is used to create duplicate documents.

Given the global credit crunch and concerns regarding demand for China’s exports, the government recently announced an RMB4 trillion (US$585 billion) domestic infrastructure spending package designed to stabilize China’s economic growth rate.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman, Deborah Platt Majoras, has announced her decision to leave the FTC in late March. Majoras was appointed by President George W. Bush and served as FTC Chairman for over four and half years.

On December 11, 2007 the State Council, Ministry of Finance ("MOF") and State Administration of Taxation ("SAT") jointly issued Enterprise Income Tax Law Detailed Implementation Rules ("Implementation Rules").

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has overturned the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) administrative ruling against technology licensing company Rambus Inc., remanding the case to the FTC for further proceedings.

The broad range of articles in this publication illustrates how pervasive antitrust issues have become.

Antitrust and trade regulation updates from the European Union, Around the World and the United States