On October 23, 2015, Hogan Lovells and Shenzhen University hosted a legal seminar on the specific legal issues and challenges arising when a Chinese company “goes out” to acquire shares, assets or patent portfolios of an overseas technology company. It was the second annual Hogan Lovells seminar on legal issues relevant to the high technology industry in Shenzhen, a reflection of the city’s importance as one of the major centers of business creation and innovation in China.
In 2015, Hogan Lovells lawyers from Beijing, Washington D.C., Düsseldorf and Brussels from the antitrust, corporate, intellectual property and trade practice groups, as well as a professor from the law school of Shenzhen University, discussed the Chinese outbound regulatory rules, US national security and export control regimes, patent due diligence and antitrust and merger control issues faced by Chinese companies planning outbound technology acquisitions. After a brief introduction of the relevant legal rules, the speakers developed a lively panel discussion about a concrete and practical case study to “simulate” how a company should behave in an actual case.
In-house counsel and representatives from many important Shenzhen high-tech companies participated in the seminar. The event was also reported by a prominent local newspaper Shenzhen Special Zone Daily on November 10, 2015 (see the link here).