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Lucasfilm did not benefit in any way at Tyburn Film Productions Ltd's expense, counsel said to the appeals court there on 3 December 2025, in part because it already possessed rights over Cushing's likeness and an agreement and consent from the Cushing estate to 'resurrect' him as Grand Moff Tarkin. Tyburn contends it earlier made an agreement with the late actor then, at the time, granting the company a veto over any use of his image prior to his 1994 death. That contract concerns a TV series titled 'Heritage of Horror', which never aired. Tyburn further asserts the deal permits it to effectively 'resurrect' Cushing using stand-ins and CGI to ultimately finish the programme then if the actor were to die whilst filming remained in progress...
Irish telecom operator Eircom’s damages lawsuit against BT Group over a public-sector contract must be carefully managed to trial to deal with confidentiality issues and other matters, a UK judge told the parties today. At the High Court in London today, a judge said Eircom’s damages action against BT over a public-sector contract needs tight case management through to trial to address confidentiality and related concerns. Eircom brought the claim after Ofcom in 2020 penalised BT for its behaviour during a tender. Speaking to both sides, Judge Adam Johnson urged them to resolve any confidentiality flashpoints themselves and signalled he had no wish to step in unless it became unavoidable. He also expressed confidence that parties would do everything possible to keep confidential designations to a minimum, noting this was necessary to maintain control over the conduct of the trial. He framed this as the
The following document is attached: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/274 dated 5 February 2026, revising Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1981, establishing a final anti-dumping levy on imports of ceramic tableware and kitchenware produced in...
Justice Richard Arnold granted AstraZeneca leave to appeal and permitted lorries carrying about 175,000 packs of Glenmark’s generics to move on to wholesalers, provided they did not reach pharmacy shelves while the case continued at any point during those interim proceedings. In this way, Glenmark could keep its first-to-market advantage, while causing only minimal detriment to AstraZeneca should the Court of Appeal later be persuaded to issue an injunction against supply. The judge said this approach maintained the status quo with the least possible prejudice to Glenmark’s position overall. The hearing was arranged at short notice, just days after the High Court refused AstraZeneca an injunction to block the diabetes generic from sale while the court considered whether the patents supporting the branded medicine were valid in law. Glenmark, Generics (UK) Ltd and Teva Pharmaceuticals have each begun proceedings in the UK to set...
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Mergers The CMA has set out the schedule for the slot-release process for the IATA summer 2026 season, pursuant to commitments made by IAG to the European Commission concerning its purchase of bmi ( M.6447)......
In this issue: Competition and state aid Free movement, immigration and employment Financial services Environment Insurance and reinsurance Life sciences TMT International trade Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Competition and state aid State aid— Court of Justice rules on an Italian reference, declaring renewable energy State aid inadmissible. In Case C-514/23, Tiberis Holding, the Court considered questions from Italy on whether a national scheme encouraging electricity generation from renewable sources is compatible with the EU internal market. See News Analysis: EU Competition law—daily round-up (01/08/2025)... State aid— European Commission opens a call for evidence on technical updates to the ETS State aid guidelines. The Commission is seeking views on planned revisions to the Emissions Trading System State aid guidelines ( ETS Guidelines), with feedback invited until 5 September 2025. As...
Republic of Korea v Elliott Associates, LP [2025] EWCA Civ 905 What are the practical implications of this case? The judgment confirms the proper method for construing treaties under customary international law, as reflected in Articles 31 and 32 of the VCLT. It equally stresses the value of consistent treaty interpretation, so that investors and states can depend on a uniform approach irrespective of the forum. In allowing the appeal and setting aside the High Court’s ruling, the Court of Appeal ( COA) emphasised that nothing indicated that, when drafting the Treaty, Korea and the United States intended to import English domestic principles governing jurisdictional objections to arbitration. On that footing, the COA concluded there was no foundation for reading in, or applying, interpretative ‘rules’ derived from English law. The decision further explains that, even where an AA 1996, s 67 application is in play, the...
Mergers The Commission has received notifications for: Trilantic/ Direlec Group/ Sklum/ The Masie/ Create ( M.12113) under the simplified merger procedure Actis/ Mubadala/ Rezolv Energy ( M.12075) under the simplified merger procedure Trafigura/ Armorie ( M.12066) under the simplified merger procedure Note— For all ongoing merger investigations before the Commission, see the EU mergers—ongoing cases tracker Upcoming dates For dates of forthcoming EU competition developments, consult the EU Competition calendar......
In this issue: Heritage and natural environment Planning enforcement Planning applications and decisions Nationally significant infrastructure projects Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Related Documents Heritage and natural environment Court of Appeal clarifies separation of planning and forestry regimes under the Forestry Act ( R (on the application of Smar Holdings Ltd) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) The Court of Appeal in R (on the application of Smar Holdings Ltd) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2025] EWCA Civ 1041 upheld the Secretary of State’s challenge, reversing the High Court’s judgment that had favoured Smar. It also examined whether planning considerations were really relevant. The central question was whether planning factors—most notably the public interest in delivering new housing—bear on the Forestry Act 1967 regime, in...
In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Data protection, cybersecurity and AI Complaints Other Practice Compliance updates this week Lex Talk®Practice Compliance: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions DBT and OTSI update guidance on trade sanctions breach assessments The Department for Business and Trade ( DBT) and the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation ( OTSI) have revised their guidance on how trade sanctions breaches are assessed. Section 5, ‘ Referral to HMRC’, has been updated to state clearly that HMRC holds the power to offer compound penalties in criminal enforcement cases. See: LNB News 01/08/2025 24. DBT updates guidance on countering Russian sanctions evasion and circumvention The DBT and OTSI have refreshed their guidance on addressing Russian sanctions evasion and...
Westminster City Council v Gems House Residences Chiltern Street Ltd and another company [2025] EWHC 1789 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? At the outset, it should be noted that the facts were intricate and the clause at the heart of the construction dispute was atypical (see §18, which reproduces clause 10 of the agreement). As the judge remarked at §31, steering a court towards alternative wording that might have eliminated doubt is seldom of real assistance when construing an agreement. By the same token, the result here hinges on the particular language chosen and offers limited guidance where different terminology is used. There is also a real possibility that the decision could be overturned on appeal (the City Council’s application for permission to appeal remains pending). Nonetheless, the judgment offers significant help to...
In this issue: Trade marks/passing off Copyright & associated rights Patents AI and IP Lex Talk®IP: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Trade marks/passing off Express yourself— High Court rules on conflict between freedom of expression and intellectual property right infringement ( Fridriksson v Samherji Hf) This dispute concerned a bid for permission to appeal against a summary judgment order made by Master Teverson in the claimant’s favour, restraining the defendant from passing off, copyright infringement and publishing malicious falsehoods. The defendant contended his conduct amounted to artistic expression, relying upon the earlier decision of Nadia Plesner Joensen v Louis Vuitton Malletier SA [2011] ECDR 14 (not reported by Lexis Nexis®), where the defendant’s freedom of expression was held to override the...
The City UK consultation response On 4 August 2025, The City UK noted that the FCA’s consultation on rules for issuing stablecoins—digital tokens typically linked to fiat currencies such as the dollar keeping values steady—contains a significant omission on granular AML obligations. The regulator’s plan for overseeing the sector failed to set this out. The trade association said in its 4 August 2025 consultation response: although the FCA’s crypto roadmap signals that financial crime requirements will be tackled in a later consultation, it is vital to spell out how AML standards will apply to digital assets, including use cases unique to stablecoins (and custody). Custody refers to holding and protecting a client’s digital assets, yet custodians, including crypto exchanges, may face exposure to financial crime from within organisations or via hackers or cyber-attacks. The City UK said the FCA needs to make clear how its...
See Q& A: If a person has owned and lived in a property as their primary home for the entire time they held it, can principal private residence relief apply to the gain when that property is split into two self-contained flats and each flat is subsequently sold to different purchasers?......
Original news Mr N ( CAS-76635- M4T9)—26 March 2025 Summary The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman dismissed a grievance regarding a transfer into a pension liberation arrangement. At the material time, the Scheme acted in accordance with prevailing guidance. No red flags were detected, and, on the balance of probabilities, the member would have gone ahead in any case, even had a Scorpion leaflet been provided. This outcome highlights the need to consider whether any omissions within the due diligence process would, in reality, have changed a member’s decision to transfer. Accordingly, the complaint was rejected. What were the facts? Mr N was a member of the Legal and General Personal Pension Scheme (the Scheme). In February 2013, the Pensions Regulator issued its ‘ Scorpion’ guidance, warning about the dangers of pension scams......
Mergers The Commission approved the purchase of exclusive control over Karo Intressenter Holding AB by KKR & Co. Inc...
The High Court found that lead vocalist and bass player Conrad Lant and drummer Anthony Bray both owned copyright in artistic works that the 1980s band used to sell its music and appeared to have infringed each other's rights with merchandise sales. High Court Recorder Amanda Michaels said there was no indication that Mr. Lant permitted the defendants to exploit his copyright works, nor that Mr. Bray granted Mr. Lant permission to use his own creations. Lant and Bray both played in Venom from 1979 to 1986. Afterwards, Bray licensed Plastic Head Music Distribution Ltd to market merchandise featuring identified artistic works, while Lant licensed Razmataz.com Ltd to carry out similar sales, with each musician challenging the other’s licensing moves, according to the judgment. The singer says he created six artistic works; Plastic Head countered that Bray authored and owned them, or...
According to Olof Gill, the European Commission’s trade spokesperson, following the accord reached by President Donald Trump and EC President Ursula von der Leyen on 27 July 2025, formal measures are anticipated to pause the countermeasures. A 15% tariff on most European imports under the EU– US framework trade deal is due to begin on 8 August 2025, together with steeper duties for more than 60 countries that Trump announced on 31 July 2025. Gill’s public statement also underlined the unusual character of the 15% tariff element within the arrangement, noting its distinct scope within the deal framework......
Fridriksson v Samherji Hf [2025] EWHC 1873 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of the case? This judgment offers useful direction on the outer limits of conduct that can be acknowledged as freedom of expression, the court’s approach to weighing competing provisions under the European Convention on Human Rights (the ‘ Convention’), and the circumstances in which freedom of expression may operate as a defence to alleged intellectual property right infringement. On the summary judgment application, the defendant contended that there should be no boundary to what counts as freedom of expression, encompassing his actions here. The Master held that where rights collide they must be measured by their respective importance in the specific context of the clash. In these circumstances, the Master concluded that the defendant’s invocation of Article 10 of the Convention to resist the transfer of the domain name and the...
Judge Timothy Parker upheld and confirmed the ban imposed by the English Blackball Pool Federation ( EBPF) on Harriet Haynes, stopping her from playing eight-ball pool for the women’s ‘ A’ team in Kent, in south-east England. He stated that the April 2025 Supreme Court decision—which found that transgender women are not protected as women for the purposes of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010—meant Haynes could pursue only gender reassignment discrimination, not sex discrimination. Yet there was no arguable case on gender reassignment discrimination because, as the Canterbury county court in Kent held, ‘there is no reasonable alternative way of achieving fair competition short of exclusion’. The county court completed hearing Haynes’ claim five days before the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers [2025] IRLR 537. In the aftermath of that ruling, Parker...
Antitrust CMA accepts commitments from AJBA parties to address competition concerns on UK- US air routes The CMA confirmed it has accepted commitments from American Airlines, International Consolidated Airlines Group ( British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus), and Finnair in its assessment of the Atlantic Joint Business Agreement ( AJBA). The authority’s review considered whether the AJBA curtailed competition on four transatlantic routes: London– Boston, London– Chicago, London– Dallas and London– Miami. Commission’s 2010 investigation Between 2009 and 2010, the European Commission examined the AJBA, flagging concerns about competition on six transatlantic routes. The Commission closed the matter in July 2010 after accepting commitments from the parties, which included making slots available at Heathrow or Gatwick to rivals. Those commitments were scheduled to expire in July 2020. CMA’s investigation Before that expiry, and with Brexit anticipated, the CMA opened its own investigation in October 2018 into the AJBA’s...
Asset Management & Investment Funds— EU & International Developments- July 2025 ESMA advice to the European Commission on UCITS Eligible Assets The European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA) has delivered technical advice to the Commission on updating the UCITS Eligible Assets Directive, highlighting the need for harmonised rules across the EU. The EAD, an implementing directive, sets out which assets a UCITS may invest in. If taken forward, the amendments would materially reshape the UCITS fund landscape. Core proposals include a look through methodology to assess the eligibility of underlying assets for exposures obtained via delta-one instruments, derivatives on financial indices, and closed-ended funds. ESMA also proposes limiting indirect exposure to alternative assets to 10% of a UCITS portfolio; any higher exposure should instead be managed under the AIFMD framework. For more information, see our...
J D Wetherspoon Plc v Burger and another company [2025] EWHC 1259 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling matters greatly to anyone who hires (or is perceived to have hired) a third party to act on their behalf. Its effect is felt widely across the hospitality industry, notably where security provision is concerned. Yet it is just as significant in any sphere that retains contractors to deliver services for another party. The hazard is being saddled with liability for what a third party does while performing a specialist task. If that boundary were not maintained, the very notion of a truly independent contractor would be undermined and the commercial allocation of risk diluted. Too often, commercial clients are left potentially liable when the contractor fails to answer a claim or engage with it. That can become a very costly...
Original news Mrs R ( CAS-130671- J8K3)—18 March 2025 Summary The Pensions Ombudsman sided with a complainant over the handling of death benefits. The trustee did not carry out sufficient enquiries into every potential claimant to a dependant’s pension. Disproportionate weight was given to the member’s will, instead of assessing financial dependence. The trustee also failed to fairly evaluate an ex‑spouse for a discretionary lump‑sum death benefit, despite prima facie signs of dependency. This decision reinforces that trustees must undertake appropriate enquiries when determining death benefits. What were the facts? Mr L belonged to the Wellcome Trust Pension Plan (the Scheme). On his death, his survivors included Mrs R, Mr E, Ms K and Mrs N. Mrs R, his mother, had a home bought for her by Mr L, who also paid her council tax. Mr E was his brother and a co‑executor of the will. Mrs N, his former...
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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 ]...
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