Insights & News

Lewis Silkin advises Urban Innovation Company in their development and implementation of pulse smart hubs in Belfast

Deal

26 February 2019

Lewis Silkin advised Urban Innovation Company (UIC) on its recent and exciting project of introducing the first smart hubs to the streets of Belfast. The £3M project, funded entirely by UIC which designs and builds next generation telecommunication hubs, will help people stay connected - and even save lives. Lewis Silkin supported UIC with a variety of commercial, corporate, IP, planning and data privacy related advice.

James Gill and Mark Hersey write for Accountancy Age: Moving to the Cloud in 2019: 10 steps to avoid the common pitfalls

Press

08 January 2019

Mark Hersey and James Gill have written an article for Accountancy Age explaining how to make your move to cloud accounting as smooth as possible this year.

Lewis Silkin appointed to Crown Commercial Service wider public sector legal services panel

06 December 2018

Lewis Silkin is delighted to announce its appointment to the Government’s Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Wider Public Sector Legal Services agreement (RM3788) to provide a full range of legal services to public bodies in the UK.

New regulation requiring fairness and transparency from the platform economy

26 November 2018

The EC is proposing to introduce new legislation to govern the provision of online intermediary services.

Lewis Silkin French Desk advises long term client Sopra Steria (Euronext Paris) on the acquisition of lending solutions provider Sword Apak

Deal

25 October 2018

The Lewis Silkin French Desk has advised its long term client Sopra Steria on its acquisition, through its subsidiary Sopra Banking Software, of lending solutions software provider Sword Apak, a subsidiary of Sword Group.

James Gill writes for Essential Retail: Modernising consumer markets: what changes are on the horizon?

Press

14 August 2018

In an article for Essential Retail, James Gill discusses the Government’s “Modernising Consumer Markets” Green Paper and the three principles for improving modern consumer markets.

Sports Q&A – Corporate governance - key things to know

29 June 2018

I’m taking on an in-house role with a professional sports team and will have responsibility for ensuring the board meets its corporate governance requirements. What are some of the key things I should know?

James Gill writes for Essential Retail - Connected Retail: Where next for IoT and GDPR

Press

07 June 2018

Apparently, some 26 billion devices will be IoT (Internet of Things) connected by 2020, at least according to one estimate. The use of IoT is becoming increasingly ubiquitous - connected devices range from visible fitness and health wearables to less visible IoT devices embedded in fridges, heating systems, vehicles and cloud platforms. In the article, James asks, where next for IoT and GDPR?

The Perils of Poor Security

Inbrief

26 January 2018

James Gill and Bryony Long look at the ICO’s recent fining of Carphone Warehouse, and some of the practical steps you can take to help prevent a similar experience.

Competition watchdog’s open letter to the creative industries

12 September 2017

The UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has published an open letter to the creative industries on competition law. The letter reminds businesses that certain conduct that undermines competition in those industries is illegal.

A milestone for R&D agreements?

06 July 2017

R&D agreements can often cover commercially significant and highly technical subject areas. In Astex Therapeutics Limited v AstraZeneca AB [2017] EWHC 1442 (Ch) the court has had to decide on the interpretation of an R&D agreement and whether certain “collaboration compounds” were within the scope of the agreement, triggering milestone payments or not.

To UPC or not UPC – implementation of Unified Patent Court delayed (Brands & IP Newsnotes - issue 5)

23 June 2017

The 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.

Service of a claim form on an agent - was it valid?

22 June 2017

In a recent case the High Court considered as a preliminary issue whether a claimant had validly served a claim form on what they considered was the agent of the claimant. The rules of service require that the defendant must be served at the place within the jurisdiction where it conducts business, or where it carries on its activities and which has a real connection with the claim. Therefore the question here was whether the agent’s office was a place at which the defendant conducted its business, or where it carried on its activities?

Competition watchdog turns the spotlight on to eCommerce

15 June 2017

We have written an article for Essential Retail which takes a look at the European Commission’s report on competition in eCommerce.

Will you pass the red face test? - Naming and shaming of late payers has now arrived

09 May 2017

From 6 April this year, all large UK companies (and limited liability partnerships) are now subject to a new regime which requires them to publish, on a Government website, detailed reports on their supplier payment policies and practices. The Regulations are designed to create public transparency of large businesses’ payment policies and practices, primarily for the benefit of small and medium-sized suppliers.

Helping to shape the Global Driverless Revolution

03 May 2017

In this article, we look at the road ahead for autonomous vehicles.

James Gill comments for Real Business: What you should know about naming and shaming of late payers

Press

04 April 2017

Head of Lewis Silkin's Commercial and Technology group, James Gill has written an article for Real Business on the latest payment reporting regulations that came into force this month.

CMA offers cash for whistleblowers

20 March 2017

Top 5 GDPR issues for... retailers

15 March 2017

The first in our series of Top 5 tips on GDPR. With the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) looming on the horizon, we take a look at some of the key changes of how this legislation will affect retailers from 25 May 2018.

Dating apps get even more interesting

17 February 2017

A Scottish court has recently refused to find that a legal partnership existed between two former friends and Mr Elliott in relation to a business arrangement to develop and exploit a couple of online dating apps. The court held that, without a contract, there was no partnership and Mr Elliott was not obliged to share the profits from the venture with the friends.