Articles

When a property is left in disrepair by its tenant on lease expiry a landlord expects to recover the cost of making good.  Meanwhile, the tenant expects to move on without further liability. Such disparate expectations can lead to lengthy and costly...

Employment status in the life sciences sector From employees of the largest pharmaceutical companies to healthcare workers, businesses within the life sciences sector are driven by people. Different businesses inevitably have different needs for engaging...

In the recent case of Uddin v London Borough of Ealing UKEAT/0165/19/RN, the Employment Appeal Tribunal found that an employee had been unfairly dismissed because the investigating officer had failed to pass on key information to the dismissing officer. ...

This summer the Supreme Court is due to decide a controversial dispute between a property developer and a children’s hospice.  The decision will be important for both developers and landowners and hopefully provide some much needed clarity about...

If your business is the manufacture of a product which is key to your customers’ business, you may think that you can always threaten to withhold supplies to ensure your invoices get paid. If so, the recent first instance decision in the case of ...

As modern drugs become increasingly complex, licensing plays an ever-important role in drug development and exploitation. The market now requires more licences, collaborations and consolidations, making it difficult for negotiators to navigate the market. ...

Incoterms 2020 came into force on 1 January 2020, replacing Incoterms 2010. Below is a summary of the substantive changes brought in by Incoterms 2020. What are Incoterms? Incoterms are a set of internationally recognised rules that define the...

The news in recent months has been dominated by the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, the distressing accounts of the people affected and the steps being used to contain its spread. While at this time the UK remains largely unaffected, the number of...

The Singapore Convention - a welcome framework to further encourage mediation of international disputes Mediation is a means of resolving a dispute which involves parties negotiating and often voluntarily settling their dispute in the presence of a neutral...

Commonhold was introduced in 2004 but more than 15 years on there are still fewer than 20 registered commonholds in England and Wales. The Law Commission’s report on reinvigorating commonhold as an alternative to leasehold ownership is expected in...

The Court of Appeal has upheld a judgment of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), which found that an Italian jewellery company could object to its bracelets being disassembled, repackaged and resold in a way that did not accord with its luxury...

In June 2019 the Government announced a plan to introduce a new “breathing space” scheme to protect individuals and families struggling with problem debt and to give those individuals and families extra help and time to get their finances under...

In November 2018 UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) introduced major changes to the way immigration applications submitted in the UK are processed. This included a move to online applications and removing the requirement to provide original documents. The...

The French data protection authority (the CNIL) has published its opinion on the data privacy challenges presented by the use of facial recognition technology, on the one hand recognising the challenges for privacy, the potential for criminal activity and...

The IP Enterprise Court (IPEC) has issued the first English decision following the Court of Justice (CJEU)’s controversial decision in Cofemel in which the Court expanded copyright protection under EU law to a wide range of subject matters that would...

The new Global Talent visa, aimed at attracting the world’s top scientists, researchers, engineers and mathematicians, opens on 20 February 2020.   Extension of Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) The Global Talent visa essentially extends the existing...

Since our previous article , the government has confirmed its intention to give certain taxes preferential status from April 2020. The Finance Bill 2020 is expected to give HMRC priority in the recovery of certain debts (including VAT, PAYE, Employee NICs,...

On 28 January 2020, the Migration Advisory Committee (“MAC”) published its latest report in relation to the future, post-Brexit immigration system proposed to take effect from 2021. The MAC has recommended a single minimum salary threshold for...

In March 2019, the High Court ruled that the Right to Rent scheme was causing racial discrimination and violated human rights law. The government appealed the ruling and the appeal was heard on 22 January 2020.  We are currently awaiting the outcome of...

The Witness Evidence Working Group has published its Final Report on the use of witnesses of fact in trials before the Business & Property Courts in London (which includes the Technology and Construction Court) and the manner in which such evidence is...

A key question for life sciences companies conducting international business is: will they be able to take enforceable action against a defaulting contract partner or licensee based overseas?  Contractual disputes between companies based within the...

“Keep out of Chancery.  It’s being ground to bits in a slow mill; it’s being roasted at a slow fire; it’s being stung to death by single bees; it’s being drowned by drops; it’s going mad by grains.” Charles...

The European Court of Justice’s (CJEU’s) decision in Sky v SkyKick [i] had been anticipated with some trepidation by trade mark owners after the Advocate General (AG) took a highly critical view of strategies used by brand owners to secure broad...

In the recent case of Bioconstruct GmbH v Winspear and another [2020] EWHC 7 (QB) , the claimant (Bioconstruct GmbH) brought proceedings in respect of unpaid sums it claimed were owed under a guarantee. The court dismissed the claims, stating that among...

With worrying news about the spread of the coronavirus in China and beyond, businesses need to consider the impact on their supply lines and take steps to protect themselves. As a result of the lockdown in China, some factories are being shut down with no...

The ICO published its draft guidance on data subject access requests (“DSAR(s)”). In seeking to discuss the right of access in detail, the draft guidance covers a number of topics including recognising DSARs; refusing to comply with a request;...

The conjoined appeals of Lancashire County Council, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and another and NHS Property Services Ltd, R v Surrey County Council and another [2019] UKSC 58 (the “...

In another worker status case, Stuart Delivery Ltd v Augustine , the EAT has held that a courier’s ability to ‘release’ a delivery job to a pool of couriers did not constitute an unfettered right of substitution. As such, the...

In the Spanish case of López Ribalda and others v Spain , the European Court of Human Rights found that the use of covert CCTV cameras to monitor and subsequently dismiss cashiers as part of an investigation into significant stock discrepancies did...

In a preliminary hearing in the case of Casamitjana v League Against Cruel Sports, an Employment Tribunal judge has decided that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief which qualifies for protection under the Equality Act 2010. Facts Mr Casamitjana...