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Commercial Litigation UK
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May 15, 2024
Fashion Execs Not Liable For TM Infringement, Justices Say
Two executives of a defunct fashion company are not legally responsible for causing their business to commit trademark infringement, Britain's highest court ruled Wednesday, making them exempt from paying back profits from their alleged wrongdoing.
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May 14, 2024
Autonomy Overstated Revenue Before HP Sale, Jury Hears
Autonomy's reported revenue was overstated by a combined $300 million in the two-and-a-half years before HP acquired it, an accounting expert testified Tuesday in a California criminal trial over claims that Autonomy founder Michael Lynch duped HP into buying his software company for an inflated $11.7 billion price.
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May 14, 2024
Communications Panel Seeks Stiffer Fines On SLAPP Suits
The chair of a House of Lords committee on Tuesday urged the government to increase the Solicitors Regulation Authority's fining powers to crack down on litigation designed to silence reporting about wealthy and powerful individuals.
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May 14, 2024
Appeals Court Urged To Rule Neural Network Is Not Patentable
Counsel for the U.K.'s patent authority urged an appeals court to overturn a decision that held a company's recommendation technology could be patented, in a much anticipated appeal that looks to set the groundwork for the scope of protection for "artificial intelligence"-related technology.
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May 14, 2024
Zen Internet CEO's Dismissal Was Unfair But Certain
Zen Internet unfairly dismissed its former chief executive after the company failed to properly investigate concerns that he was failing to turn a profit, an employment tribunal has ruled.
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May 14, 2024
Government Challenged Over OK'd 'Net-Zero' Power Station
An environmental consultant is challenging the U.K. government's decision to build a gas power station with carbon capture technology, claiming the project will hinder the country's "net-zero" 2050 commitment.
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May 14, 2024
UniCredit Bids To Toss $69M Plane Payment Sanctions Ruling
UniCredit urged an appeals court on Tuesday to overturn a ruling that it was not reasonable for its London branch to believe it was prohibited from making $69.3 million in payments to three Irish lessors tied to aircraft held in Russia because of Western sanctions.
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May 14, 2024
Interserve Whistleblower Can Add Past Warnings To Claim
A former Interserve employee has won permission to include details of blowing the whistle at a previous employer to her whistleblowing claim against the construction company, in a reversal of a tribunal's decision that she had not been specific enough when filing the claim.
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May 14, 2024
$330M Romania Award Must Be Enforced, DC Circ. Says
The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday refused to overturn a ruling enforcing a $330 million arbitral award against Romania based on a pair of decisions issued by Europe's highest court, saying a federal district judge was obligated under U.S. law to enforce the award.
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May 14, 2024
Rail Operator Takes Fight Against Union To UK Supreme Court
Rail operator Nexus took its battle with its employees' union to Britain's Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that it should be allowed to change a pay clause in a collective bargaining agreement reached with the organization.
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May 14, 2024
Repository Denies Withholding Investment Data From Fund
A securitization repository has denied "capriciously" withholding investment data from an investment fund, claiming that it never received a request for the information and did not know the fund existed.
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May 14, 2024
ATM Network Accuses Stripe Of Infringing 'Link' TMs
The main ATM network in the U.K. has accused Stripe of infringing its trademarks and hijacking its reputation by providing a payments system under the "Link" name, telling a court that consumers associate this branding with the cash machine system in Britain.
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May 14, 2024
BBC To Pay Princess Diana's Driver Damages Over Bashir Lie
The BBC has agreed to pay substantial compensation to Princess Diana's chauffeur after a journalist suggested that he had leaked information about her to the media to help secure a high-profile interview in 1995.
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May 13, 2024
Irked Autonomy Judge Vents On HP Fraud Trial's Slow Pace
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Monday blasted lawyers for the government and two former Autonomy Corp. PLC executives in a criminal fraud case over the trial's slow progress, saying he's "annoyed," but also "complicit" because he "did not take more of a controlling posture."
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May 13, 2024
Income Nixes Exxon's 'Final Loss' Deduction, Court Says
Exxon's Norwegian operation cannot deduct 900 million krone ($83.2 million) from its fiscal year 2012 taxable income that it spent liquidating an Exxon subsidiary in Denmark, a European court ruled Monday.
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May 13, 2024
Coastguard Volunteer Wins Appeal Over Worker Status
A coastguard volunteer's contractual relationship with a maritime rescue agency and his subsequent right to be paid meant that he held worker status before bosses cut him loose, a London appeals tribunal has ruled.
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May 13, 2024
Candey, Ex-Partner Face Tribunal Over Alleged AML Breach
Candey Ltd. and a former partner breached money laundering regulations by not adequately checking the source of nearly £24 million ($30 million) of client funds earmarked for a property purchase, the Solicitors Regulation Authority told a tribunal Monday.
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May 13, 2024
JP Morgan Battles Viva Wallet Founder Over Buyout Value
J.P. Morgan International Finance Ltd. urged a London judge Monday to reject a payment company's "nonsensical" case over the investment bank's option to buy out its partner's stake in a joint venture fintech business.
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May 13, 2024
Trinity College Librarian Loses Race Bias Claim Over Contract
A librarian at Cambridge's Trinity College has lost her claim accusing the 478-year-old college of race discrimination after an employment tribunal found the college's contracts did not treat those who need to travel abroad to see family less favorably.
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May 13, 2024
Barclays Can Keep $148M Russian Swaps Dispute In London
Barclays has secured a permanent London court order preventing sanctioned Russian state investment company VEB from taking its $147.7 million swaps dispute with the bank away from the U.K. to an arbitration court in Moscow.
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May 13, 2024
Clothing Co. Blames Businessman In Knockoff Garment Fight
A London-based garment supplier has responded to accusations that it sold knockoff "Yours" and "Yours Curve" plus-size clothing, telling a London court that a businessman it dealt with was responsible for supplying allegedly infringing items.
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May 13, 2024
Law Firm Beats Paralegal's COVID Whistleblower Claim
An employment tribunal has dismissed a former paralegal's claim alleging she was unfairly dismissed for raising complaints about her mentor's behavior and COVID-19 practices, finding the disclosures didn't play a part in the firm's decision to fire her.
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May 13, 2024
Barrister May Have 'Dozed Off' For Medical Reasons, She Says
A barrister denied undermining the public's trust in the legal profession on Monday after she was brought before the barristers' tribunal for allegedly falling asleep during a coroner's inquest in which she was acting as counsel.
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May 13, 2024
EasyGroup Sues Vehicle Rental Co. Over 'EasyHire' TM
EasyGroup has hit English car and van rental business Easihire with a trademark infringement claim, arguing that customers are likely to confuse Easihire with its own easyHire brand.
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May 13, 2024
CMA Can Appeal Nixed £100M Fine In NHS Drug Pricing Case
The Competition and Markets Authority was granted permission on Monday to challenge a tribunal's ruling that overturned more than £100 million ($126 million) in fines against drug companies for fixing agreements that allegedly increased the price of hydrocortisone tablets.
Expert Analysis
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Examining The Effects Of Increased Construction Insolvency
With a significant rise in construction firm insolvencies, proactive monitoring of key counterparties is paramount, and if early warning signs such as failure to pay suppliers or a turnover in key management are triggered, parties should take steps to minimize exposure and potential losses, say lawyers at Reynolds Porter.
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Ensuring Construction Project Insurance Cover Is Adequate
There are a number of ways for practitioners to secure appropriate insurance for a construction project, and it is as important to consider who is covered under the policy as it is the specific terms and obligations, say lawyers at Gowling.
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GDPR Case Sheds Light On Threshold For Individual Damages
The recent EU Court of Justice judgment in Österreichische Post clarified that an individual must suffer damages from an infringement of the General Data Protection Regulation to claim compensation, but the lack of guidance regarding calculation creates further ambiguity for organizations and an opportunity for individuals to forum shop, say lawyers at Van Bael & Bellis.
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What Private Investment Can Bring To Barristers' Chambers
The recent private equity investment in The Barrister Group, believed to be the first at the Bar of England and Wales, demonstrates how an upgrade in chambers' business processes and technology can be achieved, both essential for the future of the profession, says Harry Hodgkin at The Barrister Group.
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The Path Forward For Blockchain Patents In The UK And EU
The U.K. Intellectual Property Office's recent refusal of an IGT patent application highlights that certain blockchain innovations, including those relating to improved security, are more likely to be patentable than others, which is consistent with the overall European approach and available data, says Andrew Rudhall at Haseltine Lake.
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High Court Case Nearly Settles Fixed-Or-Floating-Charge Test
While the High Court recently clarified in the Avanti Communications case that a limited freedom of a charger to deal with permanent assets will not create a floating charge, it does not resolve the differences in opinion between borrowers' and lenders' lawyers about the extent of that freedom, say Paul Denham and Bruce Johnston at Morgan Lewis.
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What The Oil Spill Case Means For Corporate Enviro Liability
Amid increasing strategic environmental litigation, the recent Supreme Court decision in Jalla v. Shell serves as a reminder of the limitations to using private law action and that the courts will not necessarily dilute procedural or substantive rules to accommodate these claims, say lawyers at Cleary.
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French And UK Patent Litigation Will Likely Influence The UPC
The newly opened Unified Patent Court represents a seismic, yet untested, change to how patent litigation is conducted within Europe, and the practices of French and U.K. courts may play a role in its development, including on issues such as saisies and document production, say lawyers at Gowling.
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Examining The Growing Strength Of FRC Enforcement Actions
As the U.K. Financial Reporting Council prepares to broaden its powers and transition into the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority in 2024, it is already demonstrating an increased appetite for enforcement, with greater expectations placed on auditors, say Kathleen Harris, Sean Curran and Melissa Dames at Arnold & Porter.
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Insights On UK Efforts To Combat Greenwashing Claims
The recent censure by U.K. advertising and consumer protection regulators of a number of companies' attempts to highlight their green credentials demonstrates that efforts to tackle greenwashing are gathering pace, and the question of how consumers understand sustainability claims made by companies is coming into sharp focus, say Robert Allen and Craig Gilchrist at Simmons & Simmons.
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GDPR Case Offers Useful Clarifications On Data Access
The recent EU Court of Justice decision in FF v. Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde is a critical junction for data protection law, clarifying that the right of access requires copies of documents containing personal data, but this will likely to incur higher compliance costs and administrative burdens for businesses, say Thibaut D'hulst and Defne Örnek at Van Bael & Bellis.
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UK Case Shows Risks Of Taking Shortcuts In Fund Payments
While the High Court recently reversed a decision in Floreat Investment Management v. Churchill, finding that investors routing funds into their own accounts was not dishonest, the case serves as a cautionary tale on the dangers of directing investment funds other than as contractually provided, say lawyers at Dechert.
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How The UK Employment Court Backlogs Jeopardize Justice
While employment tribunal case delays may not top the agenda of new Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk, recent data reveals deep and long-term issues, including a staggering half a million current or former employees waiting for their case to trudge forward in the queue, says Heather Wilmot at ARAG.
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ClientEarth Case Shows Shareholder Hurdles In Climate Suits
Climate-related shareholder activism is on the rise, but ClientEarth's recent setback in the High Court case ClientEarth v. Shell suggests that derivative action may not be a fruitful route to force directors to move closer to net-zero targets, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.
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Benefits Of Unified Patent Court Compared To Local Litigation
Recently opened for business, the Unified Patent Court offers a faster, cheaper and more streamlined solution to handle patent disputes compared to EU countries and the U.S., and could become the most important forum for patent litigation in Europe, if not worldwide, say lawyers at McDermott.