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New advice issued by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to help shoppers spot fake goods on second-hand online resale platforms......

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INFORMATION LAW

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...

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IP

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...

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IP

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...

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Featured IP Law content

PRACTICE NOTES

Practice Note This Practice Note offers practical guidance on the current border controls between the United Kingdom and the European Union, along with the changes scheduled to commence on 1 January 2022. It covers customs declarations, the payment of customs duty and VAT, and sanitary and phytosanitary checks. Introduction In November 2021, the UK released its updated border operating model, explaining how the UK border functions in relation to the EU. The model was originally brought in on 1 January 2021 following the UK’s departure from the EU customs union. From that date, certain border controls were introduced. These were phased in to allow time to build and prepare the necessary infrastructure to support those controls. In December 2021, the UK further updated the border operating model to temporarily prolong staged customs controls for goods moving from the island of Ireland into Great Britain. This interim step was taken...

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PRACTICE NOTES

This Practice Note examines music collecting societies, which may operate as ‘licensing bodies’, and/or ‘ Collective Management Organisations’ ( CMOs). It outlines: the rationale for music collecting societies; how collecting societies work; and the regulation applicable to music collecting societies. It then supplies details on PRS for Music ( PRS) and Phonographic Performance Limited ( PPL) (covering their members and the rights they administer), as well as the joint venture PPL PRS Ltd and The Music Licence. This Practice Note sets out practical matters to bear in mind when dealing with music collecting societies. The need for music collecting societies and the legal framework The proprietor of copyright in a creation such as a musical work or a sound recording is entitled to authorise or prevent certain restricted acts. In the UK, those acts are listed in Chapter II of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (...

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PRACTICE NOTES

Database right Database right is a proprietary entitlement in the UK, arising from the transposition of Directive 96/9/ EC (the EU Database Directive), and applies to a database where there has been substantial investment in acquiring, checking, or presenting its contents. Illustrations of what may amount to a database include: a hard copy or electronic encyclopaedia; collections of data hosted on websites; the intranet; a spreadsheet recording a database and a PDF version of that spreadsheet (see the Forensic Telecommunications Services Limited case); and a document management system. The EU Database Directive was put into effect in the UK by the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 ( CRD 1997, also called the Database Regulations 1997), SI 1997/3032. Database right is infringed by the extraction or re-utilisation of the whole or a substantial part of the database’s contents without the permission of the rights holder. Not every database benefits from database right....

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PRECEDENTS

Confidentiality letter—private M& A—asset purchase—corporate seller Strictly private and confidential To: [ insert buyer name ] [ insert buyer address ] Date: [ insert date ] Dear [ insert buyer contact name ], Proposed acquisition of the business of [ insert name of business being acquired ] 1 Introduction 1.1 Further to our recent conversations, this letter concerns the intended disposal detailed herein by [ insert seller name ] (the Seller) of [ insert description of the business being sold ] (the Business), which trades under the name [ insert name of business being sold ] (the Business Name), on a going concern basis, together with [ insert description of the assets being sold ] (the Assets), to [ insert buyer name ] (or any member of its group of companies) (the Buyer) (the Proposed Acquisition). Each of the Seller and the Buyer constitutes a party and,...

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Popular documents

When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...

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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...

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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 ...

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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 ]...

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