Gradual divergence For many years the EU has pursued a policy of harmonisation for trade mark, copyright and other intellectual property laws across Europe. From 1 January 2021, the UK split away from this regime, and we can expect to see a gradual...
Protecting your designs in the UK post Brexit - what has changed?
Designs – including industrial designs and designs for consumer goods and fashion - are protected in the UK by both registered and unregistered design rights. This continues post Brexit with some adjustments to reflect the UK’s split away from...
National rights Patents are national rights and are largely unaffected by Brexit. The European Patent Convention provides a streamlined route for applying for patents through the European Patent Office (EPO) in a wide range of countries, including the EU...
Copyright is a UK national right which will not immediately be affected by Brexit. However, Brexit results in the loss of reciprocal rights in some areas including database rights, online and broadcasting and collective rights management. Database rights ...
Prior to the end of the Brexit transition period there were two ways of obtaining registered trade mark protection in the UK. You could register a UK national trade mark which is enforceable in the UK only. Alternatively, you might have chosen to obtain...
Recent constitutional challenges raised in Germany have cast doubt once again on the anticipated time-frame for the implementation of the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Europe. Background The UPC is a new patent enforcement forum, which is intended to...
FCA's business interruption test case: The Supreme Court decision
Many more businesses will be able to recover under their business interruption ("BI") policies for losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the Supreme Court judgment of The Financial Conduct Authority & Ors v Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd...
The House of Lords liaison committee report “AI in the UK: No Room for Complacency” was published on 18 December 2020. It examines the progress made by the government in the implementation of the recommendations made by the Select Committee on...
What businesses need to know about immigration in a post-Brexit era
With the transition period ending on 31 December, Jackie Penlington explains the new rules employers need to be aware of regarding their workforce and when recruiting. Different rules apply to European nationals depending on whether the individual first...
EU-UK Law As of 1 January 2021, there are significant changes to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the UK and the UK version of the GDPR has come into force (UK GDPR) taking into account the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic...
UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Implications for financial services
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed on 30 December between the EU, the UK and the European Atomic Energy Community creates a new economic and social partnership between the EU and the UK following the end of the transition period on...
The Brexit transition period ended on 31 December 2020. Despite the fact that a trade deal has been agreed, free movement for European nationals ended at 11pm on 31 December 2020. This will have a significant impact on virtually all employers, as many...
How will the UK-EU trade agreement affect employment rights? What employers need to know
The UK has entered into a “Trade and Co-operation Agreement” with the EU and the European Atomic Energy Community (the “Trade Agreement”). In exchange for zero tariffs and quotas in relation to trade, the UK and EU commit to...
Employment Appeal Tribunal gives guidance on agency worker rights
In Angard Staffing Solutions Ltd v Kocur , the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has provided some useful guidance on various rights under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR). Background Angard Staffing Solutions (ASS) is an employment agency owned...
IR35 reform - less than 3 months to launch. Are you ready for lift-off?
Much has been said about the upcoming changes to off-payroll working (IR35) in the private sector over the past 18 months or so – see our notes on 4 July 2019 , 8 January 2020 and 18 March 2020 . In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the...
Gender-fluid and non-binary employees are protected under the Equality Act 2010
In the landmark case of Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover , the Tribunal has held that the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’ in section 7 Equality Act 2010 (Equality Act) should cover individuals who identify as gender-fluid and...
As we enter a third national lockdown, employers across England will be wondering how to manage their workforce given the latest restrictions. Some employers will be required to close their businesses and many others will have staff impacted by school...
The end of the Brexit transition period at 11pm on 31 December 2020 means that free movement for European nationals has ended. Virtually all UK employers are impacted but the construction industry is particularly affected given the numbers of EEA and...
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the “Agreement”) has been approved by the EU and is implemented into UK law through the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020. The Agreement comes into effect just in time for the...
The UK and the EU have recently been at loggerheads, each accusing the other of breaching good faith clauses in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. In short, the EU claims the UK is in breach by introducing the Internal Market Bill, which undermines its...
Fantastic truths and where to find them: how do judges decide which witnesses to believe?
It cannot have escaped anyone’s notice that Johnny Depp recently lost his libel claim against the publishers of The Sun newspaper after Mr Justice Nicol held that the allegations made against him of domestic violence were substantially true....
Recovery and resolution planning: Living wills in the construction industry
In light of recent economic uncertainty, it is perhaps unsurprising that, despite over two years having passed since the company’s collapse, the spectre of Carillion continues to haunt not only the construction industry but many other...
The Bank of England has announced that it proposes to allow new banks to have simplified capital requirements once the Brexit transition period ends next year to help them challenge the “Big Four” banks (RBS, HSBC, Lloyds and Barclays). The...
We bring you our round-up of the latest legal and commercial issues for life sciences businesses. As we approach the end of the transition period, we cover the key points businesses in the life sciences sector should know about the immigration changes...
Few would disagree that 2020 has been an exceptional year. The retail gloom and hypothesised “death of the high street” has been well documented, not least aided by the pandemic and the impact this has had on retail and hospitality businesses....
The significant financial investment required for the research and development of a new medicine means that, in normal market conditions, there is generally insufficient commercial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs intended for use by...
Some borrowers may worry about how and when security they have granted to a lender for a loan will be released. In virtually all cases this will happen when the borrower has repaid the relevant loan (plus accrued interest). This reflects the fundamental...
The High Court has held that domestic legislation fails to properly implement EU health and safety legislation. Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) prohibits employers from penalising an employee who reasonably believes they are in...
The life sciences sector is an industry in which competition is constantly evolving, due in particular to rapid developments in technology and heavy investment in the sector. The stages involved in taking a product from initial research to market are...
Post-Brexit immigration rules: navigating the new 'simplified' immigration system
Kerry Garcia and Nyasha Gardner offer a practical guide to the new regulations employers will need to be aware of when recruiting employees from abroad. With free movement for European nationals due to end at 11pm on 31 December 2020, the new...
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