The High Court has outlined the legal principles involved when determining how much companies should pay if they infringe a patent when selling their products. The issue arose in a case involving a company that breached a patent covering the use of aluminium snap-in inserts to fix shelves and brackets to horizontally-slatted wall panels, enabling
Thousands of large companies and organisations now have to publish their gender pay gap figures as part of the government’s drive to reduce the pay differential between men and women. Voluntary, private and public sector employers with 250 or more employees must publish their figures by April 2018. The regulations cover approximately 9,000 employers with
New measures including £30,000 fines to tackle the problem of rogue landlords have now come into force. Councils also have new powers to access tenancy deposit protection data to help them identify rental properties in their area, and deal with the small minority of rogue landlords who flout the rules and shirk their responsibilities. Councils
A deceitful director who lied about her company’s ability to pay a supplier has been found personally liable for damages of £1m. However, her former husband who was her fellow director, was not liable as he knew nothing about the disputed contract. The woman and her former husband were equal shareholders in a company buying
The recent changes to corporation tax loss relief could lead to more business failures, according to the insolvency specialists, R3. From 1 April this year, companies are only allowed to write off 50% of past losses from future corporation tax bills, rather than the previous 100%. The changes are expected to raise £1.6bn over the
You have received a disqualification order, either for a minimum of one year up to a maximum of fifteen, and you may think it is a relatively simple matter to not be employed as a company director during this period. Be warned. The effects of a disqualification order go beyond a simple prohibition. It also
Business owners regularly use companies as a medium for trade in order to take advantage of their separate legal identity; the gospel being that this will afford them protection by ring-fencing their personal assets. This benefit is offset by the increased administrative responsibility required from companies in order to protect the public. While traditionally a
The terms of a rental agreement that would have meant fashion designer Vivienne Westwood having to pay an extra £100,000 on her flagship store in Mayfair were too severe to be enforceable, the High Court has ruled. Vivienne Westwood Ltd leased the premises from Conduit Street Development Ltd in 2009 on a 15-year term with
The risk involved in making major business decisions based on oral agreements was highlighted in a recent case involving a claim for a £13.5m commission payment. It involved a bank employee who agreed to help a company director sell his business. They met in a restaurant on 11 March, 2011 to discuss the deal. The
A director who channelled substantial payments from his family’s businesses to a new company he had set up on his own has been ordered by the High Court to repay the money with interest. The case involved two brothers and their extended family. One of the brothers started making unauthorised gifts and loans to his