New advice issued by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to help shoppers spot fake goods on second-hand online resale platforms......
Section 6 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 supersedes VPA 2024, s 17, scrapping the prior constraint that protected disclosures had to be made to particular recipients for specified purposes. Any term in any agreement, including commercial non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), is void to the extent it seeks to stop a victim, or someone who reasonably believes they are a victim, from revealing relevant criminal conduct-or the counterparty’s reaction to it-to anyone, for any purpose. The new provision binds the Crown, subject only to a tightly drawn national security exception. This analysis examines how these reforms align with existing common law limits on confidentiality and their consequences for standard commercial NDA templates. It is written by Richard Hanstock, a barrister at Cornerstone Barristers and the founder of Deeptech Legal, an SRA-authorised firm specialising in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, defence technology and national security...
In this issue: Trade marks/passing off Copyright & associated rights Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Trade marks/passing off Court of Appeal confirms ‘SHORTSTV’ trade mark is invalid (Shorts International Ltd v Google LLC) The Court of Appeal, in Shorts International Ltd v Google LLC [2026] EWCA Civ 668, upheld the earlier ruling and dismissed Shorts International Ltd’s (SIL’s) appeal, confirming that Google’s use of ‘Shorts’ did not infringe SIL’s registered trade marks and that one of its registrations was invalid. SIL, a producer and distributor of short films aired on its ‘ShortsTV’ channel, contended that Google’s deployment of ‘Shorts’ for its YouTube Shorts service infringed its five registered trade marks under section 10(2) and 10(3) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA 1994) and amounted to passing off. The judge...
In this issue Patents Copyright & associated rights Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Patents Article 3(d) entitlement of an uncombined medicinal product (drospirenone) to an SPC (Laboratorios Leon Farma SA v Comptroller) The court was asked, at its core, whether the earlier Court of Justice ruling in Medeva BV v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, Case C-322/10, operates to block the award of a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) to a product where a prior approval existed only as part of a combination therapy. The court answered in the affirmative and held that the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) was right to decline an SPC for drospirenone by applying Medeva. Because there was an earlier marketing authorisation (MA) for drospirenone used together with oestrogen, the...
IP regimes are, in most cases, domestic in scope. Yet numerous international conventions and treaties oblige states to uphold baseline standards of IP protection and to safeguard rights created by foreign nationals. WIPO oversees more than 20 treaties and conventions dealing with the filing, categorisation and safeguarding of IP. Information about those instruments, and the countries that are party to them, is available on its website. This subtopic reviews several of the principal conventions and treaties it administers. For additional details, see Practice Note: Intellectual property international treaties and conventions.
A worldwide framework for enforcing copyright is in place, established through four conventions. Taken together, these conventions permit cross-border enforcement of copyright. The system operates internationally through those four conventions. Through this approach, copyright is enforceable beyond borders too. Central to the framework is the rule of national treatment. In essence, a copyright proprietor will be regarded as though they are a national of the...
When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...