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More than meets the eye: Changing use

In February 2015, we explained how sharing space is not as simple as it sounds. This article is the third in our periodic series on actions that a commercial tenant might wish to take, but are not as...

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Overhanging trees

Trees provide enjoyment, protection and shade. They help to soften the harsher man-made environment of brick, glass, concrete and steel. The basic principle is that a tree belongs to the owner in whose...

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Restrictions on leasing energy inefficient buildings - update

In our December 2014 article 'Restrictions on leasing energy inefficient buildings', we discussed a Government consultation about proposed new legislation restricting the leasing of premises where...

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European Court tightens rules regulating video content especially for...

In a judgment handed down last Wednesday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has clarified the way that the EU Directive on Audio-Visual Media Services (the AVMS Directive) should be applied to video...

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Protecting your brand: Mo Monsters, Mo Problems

The General Court of the European Union has rejected an opposition by energy drink brand, Monster, to an application to register MO MO MONSTERS as a Community Trade Mark (CTM). This ruling should be of...

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IT services: essential supplies to insolvent businesses

BackgroundLast August we reported on a Government consultation on proposals to ensure continuity of IT services to insolvent businesses. That consultation has led to changes to the Insolvency Act 1986...

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Supreme Court decides no penalty clauses in the Cavendish and ParkingEye cases

Lewis Silkin is well known for its leading marcomms M&A work, where the current hot topic is penalty clauses. The publication of the Supreme Court’s judgment in the cases of Cavendish Square...

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Advertising & Marketing Newsnotes - EU-wide case of injunctivitis

This August, after failing to see eye to eye, two manufacturers of optical measuring instruments ended up in the District Court of The Hague disputing each other’s advertising claims.It’ll end in...

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Advertising & Marketing Newsnotes - Reviewing the reviewers

How credible were those 5-star reviews for Benedict Cumberbatch’s recent Hamlet?1 That wasn’t quite what the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and ASA recently investigated, but they have both...

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Advertising & Marketing Newsnotes - Ironman stumbles

Since 1989 the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) had been giving aspiring competitors the chance to participate in its annual Ironman World Championships in Hawaii if they were willing to shell out $50...

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Advertising & Marketing Newsnotes - Kitchen nightmares

It came as a nasty surprise for Anotech, a cookware manufacturer, when the High Court held that its expensive licensing deal with TV production company Reveille was binding, even though the contract...

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Advertising & Marketing Newsnotes - Panoramic molehill

The press made mountains out of a molehill this summer by spreading silly-season rumours that the well-established freedom to take photos of buildings and sculptures in public places (the so-called...

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Advertising & Marketing Newsnotes - Branded brinkmanship

Jack FM has been given a ticking off for an offensive and ill-timed ident, making light of a tragic plane crash in the Alps. The radio station, with a self-proclaimed “adult audience”, ran the ident...

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Advertising & Marketing Newsnotes - Supermarkets: super-complaint

In April this year, consumer group Which? made a ‘super-complaint’ to the new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Super-complaints were made possible over a decade ago, allowing designated...

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Advertising & Marketing Newsnotes - Thank you for the music

Ofcom has recently found BritAsia TV in breach of the Broadcasting Code following a complaint about the prominence of references to sponsors in its TV Music Awards programme.Knowing me, knowing...

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The House of Lords questions the future of self-regulation for the UK...

In recent years, many aspects of life in the United Kingdom seem have to fallen into disrepute. Scandals like the wholesale use of phone hacking by the tabloid press have triggered existential...

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Parodying lyrics: You say hustlin’, I say shufflin’, let’s call the whole...

A US judge in Florida has rejected a claim by rapper Rick Ross for copyright infringement. Ross is the rapper responsible for the hook “everyday I’m hustlin’” in his 2006 song Hustlin’. LMFAO are the...

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Is VAT following the crowd?

SummaryThe EU VAT Committee recently published guidelines on the VAT treatment of crowdfunding. For entrepreneurs who are considering crowdfunding, especially those adopting the reward-based model, it...

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No duty of loyalty owed by directors to shareholders

BackgroundOn 12 November 2015, in Sharp & Others v Blank & Others [2015] EWHC 3220 (Ch), Mr Justice Nugee handed down his latest judgment in litigation between the directors and shareholders of...

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Limited company sues for age discrimination

A recent case in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that all legal persons, including companies, can bring claims for discrimination. BackgroundIn EAD Solicitors LLP and others v Abrams...

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What is a slavery and human trafficking statement and do I need to prepare one?

The Government has published practical guidance Transparency in Supply Chains etc. on the new legislation now in force that requires a commercial organisation which meets certain criteria to publish a...

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Rescue Rangers

As someone who enjoys a good pun, it would be all too easy to write an article packed with sporting metaphors and allusions. However, the coverage of the Rangers case (known to the legal world as...

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B Corporations – what are they?

You may not have heard the expression yet but B Corporations (or B Corps) have recently been officially launched in the UK. B Corps are for-profit organisations that have been certified in recognition...

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Proper Purpose Test clarified by the Supreme Court

It is often thought that the court will not interfere with decisions of directors which are within the range of decisions which directors could, acting reasonably, make. However, the new decision of...

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Dividend tax reform: are you better or worse off?

In his Summer Budget last year, George Osborne announced big changes to the way in which company dividends are taxed. Those changes are due to take effect from April 2016, and will result in a lot of...

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What’s obvious to some is not obvious to all: Supreme Court espouses a...

“Rent” is what a tenant pays to occupy premises – agreed? So you might think it was “obvious” that a tenant shouldn’t pay rent for any period after the tenancy terminates – e.g. in circumstances where...

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Highlights of 2015....and what's in store in 2016?

LOOKING BACK ON 2015Trade marks and passing offEnterprise v Europcar 2015 (High Court)Europcar launched a new logo which involved the use of a green ‘e’ shape similar to the logo widely associated with...

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CMA suspects online retailers of resale price maintenance

At a time where the European Commission is conducting an investigation into the e-commerce and e-books markets, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has issued statements of objections to two...

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When a loss becomes a gain: accounting for gains made when mitigating losses

Following a breach of contract, the innocent party is usually entitled to damages.  Broadly speaking these are set at a level required to put them in the position they would have been had the contract...

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Online traders and the ODR Regs: More red tape or a chance to re-think your...

SummaryThe European online dispute resolution platform (ODR Platform) is a website run by the European Commission designed to facilitate the independent, fast and fair out-of-court resolution of...

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Pension auto-enrolment - will LLPs be in or out?

Since October, 2012, employers have been obliged to automatically enrol all workers who satisfy age and earnings criteria (“eligible jobholders”) into a qualifying pension scheme and make minimum...

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EU-US Privacy Shield - is the harbor safe again, or are we entering further...

The EU-US data transfer framework known as Safe Harbor was declared invalid by the Court of Justice of the European Union (the CJEU) on 6 October 2015 in the Schrems decision (see our previous...

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New EU Procuement Thresholds

New EU procurement thresholds apply from 1 January 2016 for the period until 31 December 2017.The new thresholds are slightly lower due to fluctuations in exchange rates over the last two years and...

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CMA fines pharma companies over ‘pay-for-delay’

The CMA has announced that it has fined a number of pharma companies just under £45 million in respect of a series of ‘pay-for-delay’ agreements. The parties have been found to infringe competition /...

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The importance of registering CTM licences

The importance of registering CTM licences was originally published on www.lexisnexis.com on 16 February 2016. Simon Chapman and Oliver Watson were interviewed by Stephanie Boyer.IP & IT analysis:...

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Are your consumer terms and conditions user-friendly enough?

On 1 March 2016, the government launched a consultation on: (i) how to make consumer terms and conditions (T&Cs) more consumer-friendly; and (b) the introduction of a wider range of enforcement...

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What do the words of a contract really mean? Was Humpty Dumpty right?

Humpty Dumpty is not often relied on in the courts as an authority on contractual interpretation. But he was sure he was right – “When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it...

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Intra-group dealings and potential VAT problems if you transfer a property...

The benefit of having a VAT Group within a group of companies is well documented. However, the recent case of Copthorn Holdings v HMRC serves as a cautionary tale, emphasising the need to carefully...

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More than one storey: business rates liability

A business may occupy a single unit of accommodation, such as a floor in an office building. Or it may occupy more than one unit, such as a number of floors within the office building. Such floors...

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Brands slam door on sponsorship after Sharapova’s unforced doping error

On Monday 7 March, tennis ace Maria Sharapova broadcast a statement to the world from a Los Angeles hotel. Many onlookers had suspected that this would announce her imminent retirement from the sport...

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Case closed on registered design protection

Today the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the controversial Magmatic v PMS appeal on the community registered design (“CRD”) infringement of the popular ‘Trunki’ children’s suitcase. The...

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Ofgem closes investigation into price comparison websites

Ofgem announced on 9 February 2015 that it was looking into whether price comparison websites had been sharing commercially-sensitive information, including in relation to their commission rates....

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Budget 2016 - Big Changes for businesses and entrepreneurs

The Treasury clearly has a lot of ideas buzzing around, because the Budget yesterday contained a whopping number of tax changes. The document that HMRC produces for each Budget, optimistically...

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Pheasant as sick as a parrot! Judgment handed down in Jack Wills v House of...

Today, 21 March 2016, HHJ Pelling handed down his judgment in relation to the account of profits element of the long-running dispute between Jack Wills and House of Fraser over the use of a logo...

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New Order sparks intrigue for music industry gossip columns and company...

The High Court has given Peter Hook permission to continue his derivative claim in his dispute with Bernard Sumner and his former New Order co-band members. As well as providing material for the music...

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Measure of damages for breach of warranty

The recent Court of Appeal decision in Karim v Wemyss has confirmed the importance of having a well drafted sale and purchase agreement; in particular, a clause specifying the measure of damages the...

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8 second videos of sports footage breach copyright

Summary A Vine-inspired video App which enabled users to film and share 8 second clips of sports broadcasts has been found, by the High Court, to infringe the copyright in those broadcasts and related...

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Press release: Lewis Silkin advises Next 15 on the acquisition of Twogether

Lewis Silkin LLP has advised Next 15, the AIM-listed digital communications group, on its acquisition of B2B creative and digital marketing agency, Twogether Creative Limited.Twogether’s clients...

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In the News: Could Brexit change the face of football in the UK?

Andrew Osborne was interviewed by BBC news on the impact of Brexit on British football and the potential loss of access to European talent which has helped make the Premier League hugely popular. You...

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Changes to European trade marks

The European Union Trade Mark Regulation and European Union Trade Mark Directive, which took effect on 23 March 2016, introduces the greatest shake up to the Community Trade Mark since it was launched...

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