Compute meaning

In this issue: Medical devices Intellectual property Data protection and life sciences Pharmaceuticals—regulatory framework Research and development Competition in life sciences Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Useful information Medical devices Government supports new UK medical device rules following consultation The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued the government’s concluding response to its consultation on planned updates to medical device legislation, setting out future pathways to market for medical devices. The government will advance three principal changes: adopting an international reliance framework, removing the UKCA marking requirement once devices carry unique device identification (UDI), and revising the classification of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) devices. Collectively, these measures are intended to modernise oversight while promoting innovation and protecting patient safety. See: LNB News 23/07/2025 14. AI developers, users see EU’s guidelines on general-purpose AI models MLex: On 18 July 2025, the European Commission released guidance...

On 18 July 2025, the Commission issued administrative guidance on the EU AI Act’s rules for GPAI models, designed to clarify scope, core concepts and how these interact with a related code of practice. The guidance sets out key legal terms to map the reach of the EU AI Act’s global partnership and artificial intelligence (GPAI) regime and pinpoint which businesses must comply. An initial draft was released in April 2025 to gather views from stakeholders. Following that consultation, the Commission’s AI Office outlined the principal revisions to EU Member States at a European AI Board meeting in late June 2025. The GPAI provisions will apply from 2 August 2025... Definition of GPAI models The guidance introduces a quantitative test to determine whether a model qualifies as a GPAI model—and is therefore within the AI Act’s remit—based on the computing power used for training. The benchmark, set in the early draft at 10²² floating-point operations per second, or FLOPs, has been increased to 10²³ FLOPs, aligning with the...

In this issue: New technologies Media Internet Advertising, marketing and sponsorship Telecommunications LexTalk®TMT: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&A Useful information New technologies DSIT unveils comprehensive AI action plan to boost UK economy DSIT, the Prime Minister’s Office at 10 Downing Street, The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP and The Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP have unveiled an AI Opportunities Action Plan. It sets out 50 proposals to stimulate artificial intelligence growth in the UK. Headline measures include a major uplift in public compute capacity and the launch of a National Data Library. Government has secured £14bn of private sector investment and commitments to create 13,250 new roles in the AI arena. A digital centre within DSIT will champion AI adoption across public services, while a dedicated team will...

EU Commercial Agents Directive cases tracker This tracker monitors key Court of Justice decisions connected to Council Directive 86/653/EEC (OJ L 382/17), the EU Commercial Agents Directive. For added detail on the Directive, see Practice Note: The EU Commercial Agents Directive. Scope of the ‘commission lost’ by the commercial agent for the calculation of the indemnity payment Case: QT v O2 Czech Republic AS, Case C-574/21 Date: 23 March 2023 This decision addresses how to compute the indemnity owed to commercial agents when an agency agreement ends. Under Article 17(2) of Directive 86/653/EEC, Member States must provide that, in specified situations, agents are entitled to an indemnity on termination or expiry of the agency arrangement. The judgment clarifies which commissions are to be counted in that calculation. The Court of Justice confirmed that the indemnity should reflect commissions the agent would have continued to receive if the contract had not been brought to an end. Such commissions are payable where: the...

When someone dies, their personal representatives (PRs) must compute and pay any inheritance tax (IHT) to secure the grant and deal with the estate. They are also charged with closing the deceased’s tax position up to the date of death, and the income tax and/or capital gains tax (CGT) outstanding at that point can influence the exact IHT due. Thereafter, the PRs must account separately to HMRC for any CGT (and income tax) arising during the administration period. In general terms, that period runs from death until the residuary estate is identified and the estate is fully wound up. CGT can arise where the PRs dispose of assets that have increased in value since death; however, if a sale occurs within a specified window after death, the sale proceeds may replace the death value for IHT calculations, rather than the PRs incurring a CGT charge. This Practice Note addresses the CGT treatment when PRs transfer estate assets to beneficiaries, rather than sell to external buyers, during the administration of the...

At the start of a deal, from the outset, when gathering and assembling the relevant turnover data (and, thereafter, evaluating domestic threshold tests and any timing duties), appointed counsel should keep the following closely in view at all times. Turnover Rules on compiling, allocating (including geographic allocation) and calculating relevant turnover vary from the EU position, including within certain EU Member States and in key non-EU regimes, for example: in Austria—methodology can inflate the purchaser group's turnover and may ultimately determine whether a mandatory notification is triggered. For determining the relevant turnover, the turnover of all entities linked (directly or indirectly) to a party must be wholly (100%) attributed—ie the entire turnover of each connected subsidiary up the corporate chain in which there is a 25% shareholding or voting rights (even where control is absent) in Canada—for the purpose of testing the 'size of the parties threshold', include turnover from sales in, into or from Canada (ie domestic sales, exports and imports). To compute...

It serves little purpose to gather information on a firm’s financial results if that information is not applied to enhance performance. Insight without action delivers no lasting gains. Fee income, fee‑earning capacity, and fees per fee earner are pivotal measures of a practice’s current financial health. This Precedent offers a worked example that explains how to evaluate these metrics and run a modelling exercise to gauge the potential financial effect if any existing variable figures shift. To complete the analysis and modelling, follow a three‑step approach: step 1—compute key variables step 2—calculate and review the firm’s current fee income, fee‑earning capacity and fees per fee earner step 3—conduct a modelling exercise to understand the potential financial impact of altering any of the variables This Precedent shows you how to carry out steps 2 and 3 in practice. A blank version of the Precedent is available for use—see: Analysing fee income, fee‑earning capacity and fees per fee earner—blank. Please click...