Articles

Commercial landlords will be familiar with the problems associated with pursuing tenants when it comes to breaches of repairing covenants during, or at the end, of the lease term. They are expensive, time-consuming and often uncertain claims to...

With an ever-increasing need for efficiency, alternative routes to market and access to new geographies, the life sciences industry is in the midst of an accelerated supply chain transformation. Market participants would be remiss not to keep in mind the...

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new norms for a variety of different industries. This was no different for the legal sector. During full or partial lockdowns, lawyers, arbitrators and expert witnesses have had to adapt to hearings and tribunals being held...

The ongoing trial of Elizabeth Holmes in relation to alleged fraudulent activities at biotech company Theranos, reminds us of the impact that whistleblowing has had in the life sciences sector. Dr Li Wenliang’s attempts to raise the alarm in relation...

As customers and their suppliers become increasingly frustrated by the inability for supply chain obligations to be fulfilled, what are some of the legal implications of this recent supply chain crisis? As the last year has illustrated, unforeseen events...

The Commercial Court's recent decision in Adare Finance DAC v Yellowstone Capital Management SA [2021] EWHC 2406 (Comm) was made during the course of an application under Part 71.2(1) of the CPR in which the judgment debtor asked the court to hear...

On 16 September 2021, The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its judgment in The Software Incubator Ltd v Computer Associates (UK) Ltd (Case C-410/19) EU:C:2021:742 , ruling that the supply of computer software by electronic...

In  Pakistan International Airline Corporation v Times Travel (UK) Ltd  [2021] UKSC 40, [2021] All ER (D) 40 (Aug) the Supreme Court declined to expand the scope of the controversial doctrine of lawful act economic duress so as to allow the...

As workers are encouraged to return to offices in greater numbers, employers should prepare for an influx of employees reporting symptoms of Long Covid.  Cases are rising in the UK and it is estimated that a significant percentage of those testing...

When attempting to trace and recover assets, a claimant has a number of tools in its legal arsenal ranging from an order that a debtor attend for questioning as to its assets, to freezing injunctions, search orders, pre action disclosure, Norwich Pharmacal...

The laws and guidance imposed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic have changed a number of times. For employers, navigating this landscape has been far from straight forward. A particularly complex area is self-isolation, with a recent change in rules...

The court provides clarity on when Final Statements become conclusive, when disputes crystallise for the purpose of adjudication, and when adjudicators have jurisdiction to consider a counter set-off claim. Background to case Mr Mincione (the employer)...

Supply chain problems have been hitting the headlines in recent weeks with food chain Nando’s running out of chicken and McDonalds running out of milkshakes. This is not a new phenomenon though as global automotive production has been suffering from a...

The Home Office has released a Points-Based System (PBS) sponsorship roadmap setting out the key reforms to the sponsorship system for the next two years. The PBS roadmap, which can be found on the government website here , details key process and...

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that, under English patent law as it currently stands, an AI, however inventive, cannot qualify as an inventor for patent purposes. Nor is the owner of a machine that makes an invention entitled to claim ownership of that...

Parties to claims for £100,000 or less, will soon know exactly how much they can claim in recoverable costs from the losing party if they win their case – because they will be fixed by court rules. Currently fixed recoverable costs (FRC)...

Regulations have been published which, from 1 October 2021, will change the current restrictions on the use of winding up petitions (the regulations). A link to the regulations can be found here. In summary, the regulations partially lift the...

In the recent case of Follows v Nationwide Building Society , an employment tribunal has allowed a claim for indirect discrimination based on the claimant’s association with a disabled person. The tribunal followed a European Court of Justice case...

In May 2020, the government launched the COVID-19 Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) Rebate Scheme. This Scheme was introduced to allow small and medium businesses with fewer than 250 members of staff (as at 28 February 2020) to recover the costs of paying any...

We consider the role of “valid claim” wording in patent licensing arrangements. Patents are risky assets Patents play a crucial role in protecting innovation in the life sciences sector and are often essential to attracting investment and...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has recently launched an investigation into a COVID-19 test provider to establish whether there has been a breach of consumer protection law. It has also contacted 19 other test providers regarding the...

Common English words make bad trade marks – choose something more distinctive, say the trade mark advisors. Although many would regard the building of a family of “easy” prefixed brands as inspired marketing, recent, unsuccessful...

On 5 September 2021, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN) to intervene in the proposed acquisition of the Perpetuus Group  by Taurus International Ltd and Dr Zhongfu...

In a decision handed down in August in the case of Merricks v Mastercard Incorporated and others [2021] CAT 28, the Competition Appeals Tribunal made a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) for the first time. In addition to being a landmark development in...

Default interest clauses, although standard and rarely negotiated, can constitute a penalty if they are extravagant, exorbitant and oppressive. If a default interest clause amounts to a penalty, then the lender will not be able to recover the default...

Extension of adjusted virtual right to work checks Since 30 March 2020, temporary COVID-19 adjusted measures have been in place for employers in relation to carrying out right to work checks. During this period employers have been permitted to carry out...

One of the available safeguard measures to facilitate the flow of personal data outside of the EEA is for relevant entities to implement EU Commission-approved standard clauses into their contractual documentation. These clauses apply contractual data...

Post-Brexit, the UK is now able to depart from EU legislation on product liability and safety but - as with many other areas relating to Brexit - for many businesses it will mean facing a doubling of "red-tape" rather than a removal of...

Since May this year, there have been changes to the way marriages are registered. Couples no longer sign the register on the wedding day, instead they receive their wedding certificate after the event. For the first time, those certificates can carry...

Insolvency proceedings are typically launched by an administrator or liquidator during an insolvency process. The nature of modern insolvency litigation, including the market for assigning causes of action to third parties, has somewhat muddied the waters on...