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Early Specific Disclosure Applications – factors the court will consider
22 January 2018A decision in the Technology and Construction Court (“TCC") sheds light on the applicable test for early specific disclosure and the relevant considerations in making a successful application. Applications for early specific disclosure are relatively rare so the judgment provides helpful guidance.
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English courts and overseas defendants: jurisdiction challenges and the “two-fold test”
15 January 2018When a dispute involves a foreign party or events that took place in another jurisdiction, questions often arise as to where the dispute should be determined.
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Compulsory mediation?
11 January 2018In October 2017 the Civil Justice Council (CJC) published its interim report on the future role of alternative approaches to dispute resolution (ADR). The report makes various recommendations as well as inviting responses. It follows input from a working group tasked in January 2017 to examine uptake of ADR in civil justice. The primary purpose of the report is to find ways to encourage its use.
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Disclosure in English litigation: a sea change is coming
09 January 2018English rules on disclosure (‘discovery’ in many jurisdictions) are set for a major overhaul. Draft rules were published in November 2017. Once approved by the Civil Procedure Rules Committee, the resulting draft is intended to be introduced as part of a pilot scheme lasting 2 years, potentially beginning in April 2018 and running in the Business and Property Courts. This will cover virtually all High Court litigation. It will not be optional.
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Erosion of privilege – Law Society seeks to intervene
08 January 2018The Law Society is applying to intervene in the upcoming appeal of the landmark privilege decision in Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (“ENRC”).
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Use of disclosed documents to threaten new proceedings was a breach of court rules and may amount to a contempt of court by the solicitor and client
12 December 2017The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) provide that using documents disclosed in existing proceedings (except for the specific purposes allowed) breach the rules. CPR 31.22 provides various exceptions to when a document disclosed in a set of proceedings may be used. Any use outside of the rules could also amount to a contempt of court. Both the client who relied on the solicitor’s advice and the solicitor may be equally vulnerable to the contempt proceedings where there is no evidence of deliberate or reckless misconduct by the solicitor.
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Brands and IP newsnotes - issue 6
12 October 2017Welcome to the 6th edition of our Brands & IP newsnotes put together to bring you the latest, and most interesting legal developments affecting intellectual property law. In this issue we cover; battlegrounds on Amazon listings, whether prestigious brands can prevent their resellers from selling online, the EU's position paper on IP rights, an quick guide on rights for designs, and trade mark infringements.
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European Medicines Agency produces Q&A document on impact of Brexit for MA holders
24 July 2017As the UK prepares to leave the EU, the holders of marketing authorisations for human or veterinary centrally approved need to ensure that that they take appropriate steps to ensure that they comply with the establishment requirements in the EU/EEA.
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Squeezed out of validity and into the jurisdiction
13 July 2017UCB licensed Chugai rights to its tocilizumab patents. The licence contained an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the English courts. Only one US patent remained in force. Chugai wanted a declaration that its tocilizumab products (sold only in the US) fell outside of the scope of the last patent and accordingly no royalty payments were due under the licence.
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Sandoz & Hexal v Searle & Janssen Sciences Ireland: What is the formula for patent extensions?
13 July 2017The UK High Court has held that a pharmaceutical product claimed only within a Markush formula and not expressly referred to in the patent was protected by the patent for the purposes of obtaining a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC).
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UPC – UK moves forward whilst Germany stalls
13 July 2017The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is intended to provide a regional forum resolve patent disputes. UPC decisions will have effect in all 25 states participating in the UPC, providing a single forum to resolve disputes.
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Brands and IP newsnotes - issue 5
27 June 2017Welcome to the 5th edition of our Brands & IP newsnotes put together to bring you the latest, and most interesting legal developments affecting intellectual property law. In this issue we cover; the potential pitfalls of social media, design by artificial intelligence, interesting trade mark applications and cases, an update on the UPC, and the importance of protecting trade secrets.
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Give me a break…KitKat latest developments (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)
23 June 2017Last month the Court of Appeal gave us the latest decision in the long running battle between Nestle and Cadbury. Interestingly, whilst agreeing that the well-known four- fingered chocolate snack should not be registered as a 3D trade mark, all three Lord Justices chose to give their own judgment. And for Nestle, this one might just take the biscuit.
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Get me a #covfefe (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)
23 June 2017In case you missed it, the 45th President of the United States recently took his habit of late night tweeting to a new low. Presumably meaning to rail against the ‘mainstream media’ coverage, Trump instead complained of “negative press covfefe” and trailed off mid-sentence. Cue ridicule and the hashtag #covfefe trending on Twitter.
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Public goes nutellay crazy for AI design (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)
23 June 2017Nutella hit the headlines in February this year after using an algorithm to produce millions of unique labels in Italy. The jars flew off the shelves with customers keen to get their hands on a one-of-a kind jar. Each label design was completely unique with only the Nutella logo remaining the same.
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Champagne supernova: Cristal brand owner sues cava producer (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)
23 June 2017Do you know your Champagne from your Cava? Quite possibly, but a High Court judge held in late 2015 that a Spanish cava producer trading under the brand name, “Cristalino” had used a confusingly similar sign to that of the famous tipple preferred by rappers and the like, “Cristal”.
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All hands on deck as creative industries and search engines tackle online piracy (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)
23 June 2017The UK Government, through the UKIPO, Ofcom and DMCS, has helped broker an agreement between Google, Bing, the BPI and Motion Picture Association over a new voluntary code of practice.
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To UPC or not UPC – implementation of Unified Patent Court delayed (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)
23 June 2017The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is intended to provide a regional forum resolve patent disputes. At the moment, parties have to litigate patent disputes on a country by country basis across Europe, which is time-consuming, expensive and can lead to differing decisions in some countries. UPC decisions will have effect in all 25 states participating in the UPC, providing a single forum to resolve these disputes.
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Playing with fire: user-generated content on Twitter (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)
23 June 2017The strange world of Twitter, where brands engage with their customers at their peril. The main lesson learned from the recent #WalkersWave Twitter promotion is one that brands have heard before: the British public love nothing more than a piss-take.
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Clash of the Titans: Google v Uber (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)
23 June 2017In February, Waymo, part of Google’s parent company, sued Uber for theft of confidential information. Allegedly, a former employee of Waymo, who had been a key part of Google’s driverless car initiative, took 14,000 files and then shortly jumped ship to start up his own autonomous vehicle company. A short time later, Uber acquired the start-up for $680 million.