Ever since the 1980s, when the Domain name system was introduced, opportunistic entrepreneurs have conducted a profitable trade in domain names – a domain name being the alpha-numeric string that follows the ‘@’ in an email address and the ‘www’ in a web address. This article provides an update on domain name complaints and valuable …
In this article we identify some of the intellectual property issues that will be of importance for anyone involved in technology development in the Middle East, particularly in the context of the many initiatives, largely government financed, that have been undertaken in the region to create a fertile ground for that development.
Following protracted considerations by various parts of the EU legislature, the EU Council of Ministers adopted a new Consumer Rights Directive on 10 October 2011. As can be seen below, the terms of this new Consumer Rights Directive will have a direct effect on the online operations of traders based in the UK and across …
Continue reading “Consumer Rights Directive: the online shopper strikes back?”
The Indian economy, though not as well developed as many of its western counterparts, has always been typified by its entrepreneurial nature. For a foreign investor familiar with the Indian commercial landscape, the Indian promoter is a very recognisable figure. While some of the world’s richest promoters are Indian, India also has a very robust …
Continue reading “FDI in MSM enterprises: sound documentation equals sound protection”
Restricted certificates of sponsorship: the system of applying for restricted certificates of sponsorship was introduced on 6 April 2011. Restricted certificates are required by overseas nationals who will be employed on a salary of less than £150,000 per annum and who are currently living overseas.
It seems that every day brings a news report of corporate wrongdoing or control failures somewhere in the world – rogue traders, corruption, fraud, tax evasion, price fixing, environmental disasters and export control issues.
In this article, we review case law from South Australia Asset Management Company Ltd v York Montague Ltd [1997] to Rubenstein v HSBC Bank Plc [2011] to examine the current approach to assessing loss in economically volatile times. Assessing recoverable loss in tort claims is sometimes a knotty problem. Breach of a duty of care can …
Continue reading “Assessing recovery of loss in tort claims during an economic downturn”
On 18 October 2011 the Energy Act 2011 (the Act) received royal assent and passed into law, less than a year after it was introduced to the House of Lords on 9 December 2010.
Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS), are open-ended, regulated investment funds. Since their inception in 1985, UCITS have been regulated by Directive 85/611/EEC, known as UCITS I. UCITS I has been substantially amended several times, most importantly by Directive 2001/107/EC and Directive 2001/108/EC, these amendments generally being known as UCITS III.
Where two large businesses contract, there is an assumption that they appreciate the consequences of the contractual wording adopted. In such circumstances courts tend to give effect to the literal meaning of those terms in a contract. In Gesner Investments Ltd v Bombardier Inc [2011] the Court of Appeal was asked to interpret the terms …
Continue reading “Interpreting commercial contracts: a plane task?”
The judgment of the UK Supreme Court in the case of AXA General Insurance Ltd & ors v The Lord Advocate & ors [2011], issued on 12 October 2011, marks the end of a long and winding litigation in which all manner of questions of Scottish public and administrative law have been examined. These include …
Continue reading “AXA ruling raises as many questions as it answers”
The UK Coalition’s programme for government set out that deficit reduction, and continuing to ensure economic recovery were the most urgent issues facing Britain. It then started on a programme to cut public spending. One of the results has been a plethora of legal challenges, directed both against central government and against local government. Typically, …