Corporate & Commercial

The ALS Association has raised a staggering income of $100m over the past four weeks from Ice Bucket Challenges. These are the highly amusing fundraising challenges which began in the USA and have gone viral thanks to the likes of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The ALS Association funds research into amyotrophic […]

The Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) has published guidance for businesses on the new Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (Regulations). In brief, the Regulations amend the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and give new rights of redress to consumers who are misled or coerced into entering contracts or making payments. The […]

In a previous article we looked at the employee invention compensation case of Unilever plc –v- Shanks, where the Court held that an employee was entitled to a fair share of his employer’s royalties derived from an invention over which the employer had secured a patent. However, a decision not to award any employee inventor […]

Following a vote in the House of Lords, a law has now been passed that will allow people to alter copyrighted work for “caricature, parody and pastiche”.  The new law, called the Copyright and Rights in Performances (Quotation and Parody) Regulations 2014, will come into force on 1 October 2014. This change in the law […]

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (‘the Regulations’) come into force on 13 June 2014 and will apply to customer contracts concluded on or after that date. The Regulations will require important changes in the way retailers contract with customers. The Regulations affect retailers in different ways and distinguish between three […]

For a long time now, the EU has had its eye on creating what’s known as a ‘right to be forgotten’. Some draft legislation proposed the idea in January 2012 and people have been arguing and lobbying about it ever since. The concept has always been a bit vague but in broad terms the plan […]

Sunday evening will see the San Francisco 49ers take on the Jacksonville Jaguars here in England at Wembley Stadium. The 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is nearly as famous for his distinctive tattoos as he is for reaching last year’s Super Bowl. However, Kaepernick could find himself in hot water following lawsuits that are being filed […]

In a previous blog, we looked at the case of Société des Produits Nestlé SA –v- Cadbury UK Ltd (2012), in which the High Court allowed Cadbury’s application to register as a trade mark the particular colour purple that has become associated with their brand. That decision has now been overturned by the Court of […]

Are you signed up to Spotify? Have you created an ‘Ibiza Annual 2013’ playlist to pay homage to your summer pilgrimage to the White Isle? Then you may have got Spotify in hot water! Ministry of Sound claims that Spotify has refused to delete their subscriber’s playlists that recreate existing Ministry of Sound compilation albums […]

In order to establish a claim in passing off, a Claimant requires to show they have the necessary goodwill or reputation, that there has been a misrepresentation to the public (which may or may not be intentional) which leads the public to believe that the goods or services offered are those of the Claimant and […]

Celebrity endorsement can reap huge rewards for a brand. But I wonder how many celebrities have considered changing their name to match that of the goods or services they are promoting. As if the brand name wasn’t close enough already, it was reported earlier this week that the tennis player Maria Sharapova was considering changing […]

When a wealthy and powerful firm takes offence at the use of a trade mark small firms are placed in a tricky situation. Do they stand firm or, in fear of being sued, do they back down? In a recent case the little guy won. The Austrian company Red Bull claimed that a small Norfolk […]