A steel production company has won a damages claim against a former director and members of his family after they formed a rival start-up business. The director, his son and daughter-in-law all worked for the production company at the same time. The son and daughter-in-law left to set up their own business in the same
New measures are to be introduced to try to reduce the cost of disputes over Intellectual Property and design rights. The new Designs Opinions Service is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses and will be similar to the current Patent Opinion Service, which was introduced in 2005. It will be run by the Intellectual Property
Wigan Athletic football club has been ordered to pay compensation after signing a contract to provide match tickets that it did not have the authority to sell. The case arose after the club entered into an agreement with the sporting events ticket provider, Ticket2Final. Under the contract, Wigan granted the company an option to buy
A government scheme is helping to create 450 new businesses every week, according to the latest figures. The New Enterprise Allowance has so far led to the creation of 60,000 firms across the UK. The scheme is targeted mainly at jobseekers, lone parents and people on sickness benefit. Budding entrepreneurs with a good business idea
The importance of carrying out due diligence before making large purchases was highlighted in a recent case before the courts. It involved an aviation company that faced a £1.5m compensation claim from one its customers. The issue arose after the company sold an aircraft for £3.5m. The purchasers later became dissatisfied with the aircraft for
A contractor that was left more than £100,000 out of pocket when a customer cancelled a building project has been awarded damages by the High Court. The compensation was awarded even though the firm didn’t have a signed contract. The issue arose after the firm won a tender to build an extension to a house.
Handing over a family business to the next generation can prove surprisingly difficult for many people. Research by the Family Business Place website suggested the issue can be so challenging that 62% of families would consider selling their business because of the difficulties of passing it on to family members. Another 55% said they felt
Five company directors have been disqualified from trading for a combined total of 39½ years after repeatedly using sales tactics that breached consumer legislation. The directors worked for SAS Fire and Security Systems Limited. The company sold fire and burglar alarms. It was investigated by Trading Standards in 2013 for its aggressive sales approach. The
New measures to help designers and patent holders protect their valuable intellectual property (IP) came into effect in October. The Intellectual Property Act 2014 was introduced to modernise and streamline the whole IP legal framework. It is hoped that the measures will contribute £500m to the UK economy over the next ten years. Key reforms
A director has been told he must honour an independent company’s valuation of his business. The case involved a company that was owned by two directors who decided to go their separate ways. The first director owned 60% of the business. While he didn’t have an official contract with the company, a lot of its