In December of 2004, IBM announced their decision to sell their worldwide personal computer division to Beijing-based Lenovo Group, Ltd., taking a minority stake in the former rival in a deal valued at $1.75 billion US.

Ryley Carlock & Applewhite (RCA), one of Arizona’s ILN members and one of Arizona’s oldest and most respected law firms, opened an office in Denver on February 1, 2005, as part of a strategic plan to grow the firm’s presence and expertise in the Southwestern and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States.

Merton Marks Appointed to International Arbitration Panel of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre

ILN member Merton E. Marks, arbitrator and mediator, has been appointed to the International Arbitration Panel of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. There are ten other members of the panel in the United States. His appointment was based on his experience and credentials in U.S. and international commercial, construction, securities and insurance arbitration.

The Council of the European Union adopted on 16. 12. 2002 the new Council Regulation (EC) No. 1/2003 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Article 81 and 82 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community. The new Council Regulation, which came into force on 1. 05. 2004, replaces the 40 years old Antitrust-Regulation No. 17, thus bringing fundamental changes in the application of European competition law. The new Regulation is designed to respond to the current requirements of the competition policy of an enlarged and more mature European Union and to overcome the inefficiencies present in the old antitrust enforcement system. The European Commission also adopted a series of documents, regarded as the Modernisation Package, which complete the landmark modernisation of the European Union's antitrust enforcement rules and procedures. Not surprisingly, such a radical reform raises a number of questions of interpretation and as to how the new rules will work in practice. After a brief discussion of the legislative history, we will, in particular, look at what the system of legal exception will mean for the legitimate demands of undertakings for legal certainty.

The Australian Government’s National Water Initiative (NWI) is an issue of critical importance for Australian industries, according to Mr Kym Livesley, National President of AMPLA, the peak Australian energy & resources law association. Mr Livesley is also a corporate partner at Gadens Lawyers and national leader of the firm’s energy & resources group.

The present "Trademark Law" was first adopted on August 23rd, 1982, and implemented from March 1st, 1983. After the amendments of the PRC Trademark Law in 1993 and 2001, the renewed text of the law has come to meet the basic principles and the minimum requirements in the TRIPS agreement and those in some other international conventions, such as the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, and the Madrid Protocol. It can be said that the legal scope and level of trademark protection in China has gradually become compatible with international standards.

A "loan participation" is a transfer or acquisition of a lender's interest in a loan.

Typically, the interest transferred or acquired will be less than 100%, with the originating bank retaining a percentage interest in the loan and, often, retaining responsibility for servicing the loan and maintaining direct interaction with the borrower as the "lead bank". The acquiring bank, often referred to as the "participant", will (if the transaction is properly structured) become an "owner" of a portion of the loan with all benefits of full performance and all associated risks of loss, as if the participant had originated the loan itself.