As the effect of public sector budget cuts begin to bite, companies and other institutions involved in projects with public bodies will look to judicial review as a possible way of protecting those projects or salvaging something from the wreckage if funding is pulled. The recent decision in R (on the application of Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education) v Learning and Skills Council (LSC) [2010] illustrates very clearly the difficulties that are likely to be involved in doing so.

Continue reading “Legitimate expectation representations and conspicuous unfairness”

On 14 September 2010, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that, in the field of competition law, internal company communications with in-house lawyers are not covered by the confidentiality regime regarding communication between external lawyers and clients. This judgment paves the way for the European Commission, in its role as competition regulator, to gain access to the internal communication (eg notes and e-mails) of the legal department of a company. The appeal, brought by Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd and its subsidiary Akcros Chemicals Ltd, which relied on the ‘legal professional privilege’ claim, was rejected by the ECJ.

Continue reading “Communication with in-house lawyers not covered by legal privilege”

Some say that the age of celebrity is dead. That the birth of the reality star has killed off what it is to be a celebrity in the true sense. Not so. Celebrity will always be around, but just like technology and fashion, the concept of what a celebrity is will develop, adjust and adapt to the times. Continue reading “Defusing reputation risks for celebrity CEOs”

Investors who have suffered loss through declining asset values are likely to investigate whether their contractual counterparty (such as a bank or other financial institution) owed a duty of care to advise them as to the suitability of investments, and/or made actionable misrepresentations or misstatements. Given the extent of recent investor losses, it is likely that this will be a fertile area of litigation for some time to come.

Continue reading “Mis-selling claims:Court of Appeal guidance”

The concept of well-known trademarks has a long pedigree, going back to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883). Since then, protection has expanded and this has been reflected through additional dilution protection (against misuse of marks with a reputation in dissimilar goods) in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in 1995 and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Joint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Well-Known Marks of 1999. However, more recently, there has been resistance to offering too much protection. Nowhere are the inconsistencies between international obligations and local resistance more obvious than Indonesia, a country where trade mark protection is inherently weak and the legal system uncertain. This article briefly summarises many issues that arise when well-known foreign marks are copied – one of the most common intellectual property (IP) violation situations in Indonesia.

Continue reading “Well-known trade mark protection in Indonesia”

The upheaval over the Past few years in the financial markets and the global economy has led to a climate of increased regulation worldwide, with greater exposures for directors and the companies by which they are employed. All of this has highlighted the importance for companies to have adequate insurance protection. Directors’ and officers’ (D&O) insurance is one such policy.

Continue reading “Protecting a company and its directors: D&O insurance”

The Court of Appeal has upheld the recent High Court decision in Softlanding Systems, Inc v KDP Software Ltd & anor [2010]. The High Court had rejected Softlanding’s claim that KDP was in breach of its contractual obligations by failing to supply the required technical support post termination, and granted an injunction in favour of KDP, restraining Softlanding and its acquirer, Unicom, from using KDP’s software.

Continue reading “Softlanding Systems, Inc v KDP Software Ltd & anor [2010]”

In this era of globalisation, markets around the world are being flooded with ‘parallel import’ goods. Parallel import occurs when the original products (and not counterfeit products) are imported cheaply to a country without the authorisation of the product owner who has intellectual property (IP) rights over the products. Unlike black market goods, parallel import goods are legitimate. However, they are sold outside normal distribution channels by entities who may have no relationship with the producer of the goods. This mode of importation poses, for the producer, a threat of competition over their own products, which had been marketed following the principle of differential pricing.

Continue reading “Parallel imports and trade marks”

On 18 November 2010, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published its recommendations to the government on the level for the 2011/12 permanent annual limit on economic migration to the UK under Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the points-based system (PBS).

Continue reading “If the cap fits: MAC recommendations”

With the huge amount of publicity and debate surrounding bribery and corruption, in-house lawyers could be forgiven for thinking that there are no other financial and reputational risks for their companies.

This year has been all about the Bribery Act 2010, and the need to beef up anti-corruption programmes. Fraud seems to have faded into the background – even for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). However, fraud risks are still very much a threat to every type of business – whether that be the risk of the company or its employees committing fraud, or the company being a victim of fraud at the hands of its own employees or outsiders. Compliance resources may be hard pressed at the moment but companies cannot afford to neglect their fraud prevention and detection programmes. Continue reading “Fraud: forgotten but not gone”