RopesTalk

This new Ropes & Gray podcast series, Conductive Discussions, focuses on legal issues of interest to the semiconductor industry. In the first episode of the series, IP litigation partner Mark Rowland and IP transactions associate Georgina Suzuki discuss recent FRAND developments that impact supply chain and global patent licensing practices and recent trends in civil and criminal trade secret enforcement. This podcast also includes SiliconSpeak, a report of recent legal news in the semiconductor industry.

This Ropes & Gray podcast series, which we expect to update periodically, will highlight developments in Washington, D.C. that affect private funds and their legal, regulatory and compliance obligations. In the first episode of the series, hedge fund partner Joel Wattenbarger is joined by investment management counsel David Tittsworth to discuss relevant SEC rulemakings, enforcement and inspection issues, as well as developments on Capitol Hill, including impacts of the partial government shutdown.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, Alec Oveis, an associate in the tax and benefits group is joined by Kat Gregor, a partner in the tax group and co-founder of the tax controversy group, and Andy Howard, a partner in the tax group, to discuss the investigations now underway in Europe involving so-called “cum-ex dividend trades.”

Isabelle Farrar, a senior associate in the Tax Controversy Group discusses one of the most notable decisions of third quarter 2017, Grecian Magnesite Mining v Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with Rom Watson, a partner in the Tax Group and co-head of the firm’s International practice group. Grecian Magnesite Mining considered whether a foreign corporation’s proceeds arising from the redemption of an interest in a U.S.-based partnership were taxable in the U.S. as U.S.-source income or income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (ECI). In doing so, the Tax Court called into question the validity a 30-year old revenue ruling.

During this podcast, Michael Doherty and Jason Kolman discuss some considerations for newer credit fund managers, including common differences between the various types of credit funds, as well as between private equity and credit funds generally. Managers considering entering the credit fund market will gain a better understanding of common differences between credit and private equity funds in regard to topics such as return profiles, recycling provisions, carried interest, management fees, conflicts, tax and leverage.

In this podcast, Laurel FitzPatrick, Adam Greenwood and Jim Brown discuss the tax considerations applicable to non-US investors investing in funds that invest in credit and debt instruments. So-called 'treaty funds' offer one alternative to managing tax implications resulting from these investments, but their complexity requires an understanding of the various structures and mechanisms of these types of funds. In particular, the group discusses the types of treaty funds that are available, such as ‘bring your own treaty’ and Luxemburg and Irish company structures, as well as the differences in operating a treaty fund versus a traditional private equity fund.

In this podcast, Ropes & Gray litigation & enforcement partners Ryan Rohlfsen and Alex Rene are joined by Mike Munro, Director of Global Outreach and Board Advisor, and former Chief Compliance Officer, at Odebrecht Engineering & Construction headquartered in Brazil. They discuss key international risks facing companies in Latin America and strategies to mitigate them.

In the last three years, there has been an uptick in the use of inter partes review proceedings by the generic-side of the bio/pharma industry. In light of this recent uptick, Ropes & Gray attorneys explain the practical realities of Orange and Purple Book-related Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings, and contrast them with Hatch-Waxman litigations in the same time frame. In this podcast, Scott McKeown, chair of Ropes & Gray’s PTAB practice, and Filko Prugo, chair of Ropes & Gray’s life sciences intellectual property litigation practice, discuss their insights and experience in these matters as well as how recent changes at the PTAB may affect the biopharmaceutical industry’s use of the PTAB.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, Brittany Cvetanovich, an associate in the tax group, is joined by Kat Gregor, tax partner and co-founder of the tax controversy group, to discuss a notable Supreme Court decision, South Dakota v. Wayfair. On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Wayfair that the State of South Dakota may constitutionally require large online retailers without actual physical presence in the state to collect and remit sales tax.