Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
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
On 11th March 2015, the Supreme Court handed down their decision in the case of Vince v. Wyatt [2015] UKSC 14 and granted a wife permission to make an application for financial relief against her ex-husband even though they had divorced over 20 years ago. Facts of the case: The parties married in 1981 and
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 company has succeeded in getting a court injunction to prevent one of its former directors from poaching its staff and customers, and using its confidential information. The case involved a director who had begun working for the company in 2008 and was given a number of shares. In 2012, a new Directors’ Service Agreement
A franchise company has been granted an injunction to stop two of its former franchisees damaging its business by making false claims to customers. The case involved a company that manufactured and sold postal franking machines, which were distributed in the UK through franchisees. In July 2014, its contracts with two franchisees were terminated following
Tenants are to be given greater protection against eviction by rogue landlords under new measures announced by the government. Ministers are focusing on the small minority of landlords who evict tenants simply for asking for essential repairs to be made. The new measures will extend the existing restrictions on a landlord’s powers to evict, such
The government is urging private companies to follow the example of the public sector and start providing employees with loans to cover deposits on rented accommodation. It’s part of a push to provide a bigger and better private rented sector. In February, all government departments agreed to offer deposit loans to staff wanting to take
A court has ruled that investors in a failed restaurant venture were entitled to get their money back because their names had not been placed on the lease as agreed. The case involved a businessman who identified an opportunity to lease and run a restaurant business. He secured an investment of £255,000 from five individual
Employers needing to lay off staff could be spared time and expense following new guidance about collective redundancies from one of Europe’s top law officials. The law relating to collective redundancies applies when an employer wishes to lay off 20 or more workers within a 90-day period. In those circumstances, the employer has to consult
A surgeon who was sacked after allegedly making racist remarks has failed to get an injunction preventing his employer going ahead with the dismissal. The case involved a consultant general surgeon who attended a meeting with a number of other doctors. After some of those doctors had left, he allegedly made remarks about them that