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Brexit: Implications for employment law in the UK
Press
23 February 2016James Davies and Bethan Carney consider some of the potential implications of the UK leaving the EU for employers and employees.
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Trade Mark Watch Services
Inbrief
21 February 2016There is a temptation for trade mark owners to breathe a sigh of relief as they eventually file their trade mark applications. It is often the culmination of months of work searching for any prior rights and perhaps investigating, negotiating, cancelling or acquiring such rights. It is an end, but only to the beginning of a brand’s lifecycle. Once the application is filed, this is when the brand protection programme begins in earnest.
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Lewis Silkin advises The Brooklyn Brothers on its sale to Golin
Deal
19 February 2016Lewis Silkin has advised The Brooklyn Brothers, the global creative agency, on its sale to Interpublic Group PR network, Golin.
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Lewis Silkin advises 3 Monkeys on sale to Zeno Group
Deal
17 February 2016Lewis Silkin has advised 3 Monkeys Communications Limited, one of the UK's biggest independent PR agencies, on its sale to global consultancy network Zeno Group, the sister agency of Edelman.
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Highly unattractive: Court criticises complaints raised for the first time when resisting enforcement
04 February 2016The Commercial Court denied an application to resist enforcement and recognition of a French judgment on the basis of public policy. The court reiterated the exceptional nature of the public policy carve out in the Brussels Regulation (44/2001) particularly in circumstances where the grounds relied on by the applicant could have been raised in the foreign court itself.
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When a loss becomes a gain: accounting for gains made when mitigating losses
01 February 2016Following a breach of contract, the innocent party is usually entitled to damages. Broadly speaking these are set at a level required to put them in the position they would have been had the contract been performed properly. However, there is no entitlement to recover for avoidable loss and so this gives rise to what is sometimes referred to as a “duty” to take all reasonable steps to mitigate one’s loss. If the steps taken increase the loss overall, the increased figure is recoverable. On the other hand, if steps taken in mitigation are successful, the wrongdoer is entitled to the benefit accruing and their liability is for the resulting loss as lessened. But what happens when the claimant’s steps to mitigate are so effective that he makes a profit, wiping out any loss arising from the breach?
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Should clients own rights to pitch ideas?
Press
29 January 2016Brinsley Dresden has been quoted in an article by Campaign which discusses the issue of intellectual property ownership in creative pitch scenarios. The piece focusses on the Science Museum’s process of paying £1,000 to own the IP of any ideas pitched by potential bidders.
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KitKat trademark battle: Nestlé v Cadbury
Press
29 January 2016James Sweeting has authored an article for The Times which discusses the High Court’s recent decision in Nestlé’s ongoing attempt to register the four-fingered KitKat bar as a UK trade mark. In the article, James explores the balance between allowing businesses to monopolise well-known aspects of their brand and the extent to which this could stifle fair competition.
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Lewis Silkin advises StoryFirst on joint venture with Pinewood Group plc
Deal
26 January 2016Lewis Silkin has advised StoryFirst PST Limited, the independent media investment company on its joint venture with leading provider of studio and related services to the global film and television industry, Pinewood Group plc.
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Lewis Silkin welcomes Baroness Neville-Rolfe to Brand Academy 2016
Press
25 January 2016Lewis Silkin was delighted to welcome Baroness Neville-Rolfe, DBE CMG, the Minister for Intellectual Property, as the keynote speaker at our flagship brand event Brand Academy 2016 - “The Power of Brands - Opportunity or Threat?” on 21 January 2016.
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Court of Appeal has no appetite for salami slicing
25 January 2016Without prejudice privilege is founded upon public policy. It serves to encourage litigants to settle their differences. Its effect is to exclude all negotiations genuinely aimed at settlement (whether oral or in writing) from being referred to at trial. Solicitors will often head negotiating correspondence “without prejudice” yet protection is not dependent upon use of the label. It is often misused and arises automatically in appropriate circumstances. So what happens when no label is used and attendees of a meeting later disagree as to its status?
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Is the ASA killing native advertising?
Press
22 January 2016Brinsley Dresden has authored an article for Marketing Magazine which discusses the Advertising Standards Authority's recent decision relating to an advertorial on BuzzFeed and the impact the ruling may have on the use of native advertising.
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What’s obvious to some is not obvious to all: Supreme Court espouses a conservative approach to implied terms
18 January 2016“Rent” is what a tenant pays to occupy premises – agreed? So you might think it was “obvious” that a tenant shouldn’t pay rent for any period after the tenancy terminates – e.g. in circumstances where a tenant validly terminates the lease early. If you think that, you were in good company and indeed many landlords would voluntarily reimburse rent paid for the period after the termination date even where the lease did not expressly require this. Why? – because it was it was the right thing to do, obviously!
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BBC's strictly formats future
Press
15 January 2016We have written an article for C21Media discussing the increasing financial pressure on the BBC to reduce its dependence on the licence fee.
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Lewis Silkin advises New Bamboo on its sale to thoughtbot
Deal
14 January 2016Lewis Silkin has advised New Bamboo Web Development Limited, the web-based software development company on its sale to international software development and design company thoughtbot.
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European Court rules bosses can monitor employees' private messages on WhatsApp and other messaging services
Press
14 January 2016Michael Burd comments in The Independent on the decision made by The European Court of Human Rights allowing companies the right to monitor workers' emails.
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Watchdog criticises BuzzFeed for misleading readers
Press
13 January 2016Brinsley Dresden has been quoted in an article by the Financial Times which examines the Advertising Standards Authority's ruling that BuzzFeed misled its readers by showing them paid advertisements that looked like news stories.
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Company directors could face prosecution if they break redundancy rules
Press
12 January 2016Michael Burd and James Davies discuss the risk associated with employers who flout redundancy procedures.
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Lewis Silkin advises SYSTRA on acquisition of JMP Consultants
Deal
07 January 2016Lewis Silkin has advised SYSTRA Group, the world leader for public transport infrastructure on its acquisition of one of the UK’s leading transport consultancies, JMP Consultants Limited.
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Premier League: Football's game changer
Press
02 January 2016Karish Andrews has been quoted in an article by the Financial Times which examines how England's Premier League is attracting US investors who believe that even the smaller clubs can be profitable.