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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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International Entertainment Holdings Ltd and others v Allianz Insurance plc [2024] EWCA Civ 1281 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal’s analysis preserves several avenues for policyholders to advance arguments in forthcoming coronavirus-related disputes. The judges observed that the wording in issue was a ‘pick and mix’ assemblage, being a patchwork of clauses borrowed from other contracts, with no effort to maintain consistent drafting across the policy. On that basis, they considered that any assumption of uniform usage carried little or no weight, and that similar phrasing elsewhere in the document might offer limited assistance when construing the disputed term. Accordingly, a policyholder with a more cohesive, integrated policy (unlike the wording in IEH) could point to other provisions to sustain a broader interpretation of ‘policing authority’ and thereby obtain indemnity for their loss. The Court of Appeal...
Social media platform X is challenging Ireland’s Online Safety Code X contends the rules overlap with, and go beyond, EU instruments like the DSA, undermining moves to standardise regulation across the bloc. MLex flagged the challenge in December (see here). The matter was referenced in the High Court in Dublin today, with the next hearing scheduled for 3 June 2025. Brought in by Ireland in October 2024, the code creates fresh duties for social networks, such as stopping harmful content, applying age checks, and bolstering parental controls (see here)......
Latest SIs laid for sifting The following SI was put forward for sifting on 4 March 2025: The Companies ( Directors’ Remuneration and Audit) ( Amendment) Regulations 2025 A comprehensive register of all proposed negative procedure SIs under REUL( RR) A 2023 can be found here. Sifting process for proposed negative procedure SIs introduced under REUL( RR) A 2023 REUL( RR) A 2023 provides a suite of delegated powers enabling the government and devolved administrations to make SIs to update assimilated law. The principal legislative powers appear in REUL( RR) A 2023, ss 11–16. The key procedural requirements, including parliamentary scrutiny routes, for these instruments are contained in REUL( RR) A 2023, s 20 and Schs 4–5. Where the government intends to lay SIs in Parliament under REUL( RR) A 2023, ss 11, 12......
See Q& A: Can a sole trustee exercise power of advancement under STEP provisions? The power of advancement is the authority given to trustees to pay out or apply any capital monies held on trust, or to transfer or apply other property forming part of the capital of the trust property, for the advancement or benefit of any person entitled to that capital (or any portion of it) on reaching a specified age or upon the happening of another event, subject to various conditions. This power is statutory and is found in section 32 of the Trustee Act 1925 ( TA 1925)......
Mergers CAT quashes CMA’s phase 2 decision and orders remittal to the CMA of Spreadex/ Sporting Index merger The CAT issued an order in Spreadex Limited v Competition and Markets Authority, being an application for review under section 120 of the Enterprise Act 2002 of the CMA’s phase 2 decision in Spreadex/ Sporting Index, concerning the determination of a substantial lessening of competition ( SLC), as well as the concluding decision on remedy matters......
Banking & Finance— February 2025 case round-up Tactus Holdings Ltd (in administration) v Jordan and others [2025] EWHC 133 ( Comm) Assignment of rights—permitted assignment—champerty rules The Commercial Court refused an attempt to replace the existing claimant, finding the alleged transfer of rights was invalid due to contractual bars and was champertous. Reading the SPA’s assignment provision strictly, the court concluded that the applicant, Chillblast Ltd, was not a permitted assignee. It also determined that Chillblast lacked a sufficient legitimate interest to support the transfer. The judgment offers clear guidance on the construction of anti-assignment provisions, the contemporary application of champerty principles, and the procedural hurdles for a ‘change of party’ in commercial litigation. For further detail, see News Analysis: Court construes contractual restrictions on assignment and considers champerty in refusing substitution of a claimant ( Tactus Holdings Ltd (in liquidation) v Jordan)......
Nockolds Solicitors Ltd reports that references to the menopause in unfair and constructive dismissal actions, alongside discrimination claims, have surged to more than three times previous levels, jumping from 64 in 2022 to 204 over the last year. In a statement, Joanna Sutton, a principal associate at Nockolds, noted that while employer understanding of mental health and other disabilities has improved, many workplace rules still have yet to catch up and account for the menopause as a disability. Sutton also remarked that employers are increasingly insisting staff come back to the office and increase output, placing pressure on employees......
Advanced Hair Technology Ltd v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 241 ( TC) The appellant, a provider of hair transplant procedures addressing male pattern baldness (clinically termed androgenetic alopecia ( AGA)), argued its offerings amounted to medical care and qualified for VAT exemption, as their aim was to restore a patient’s health. HMRC, however, maintained that the dominant objective of the service was cosmetic rather than the treatment of an illness, and therefore taxable. The dispute centred on whether restoring hair for AGA fell within healthcare, or primarily delivered aesthetic enhancement......
Mond v The Charity Commission of England and Wales [2025] UKFTT 103 ( GRC). What are the practical implications of this case? There is a thorough exploration of the necessary criteria for imposing a disqualification order under CA 2011. Three prerequisites govern the making of an order pursuant to CA 2011, s 181A: (i) the individual is unsuitable to act as a charity trustee or trustee for a charity, whether in general or for named charities; (ii) it is in the public interest to make the order so as to safeguard charities as a whole or a particular class; and (iii) one or more of the grounds in CA 2011, s 181A(7) is satisfied. The Commission invoked Condition F, namely that the person’s past or ongoing behaviour, even if unrelated to a charity, was harmful, or liable to be harmful, to public...
MLex understands all online traders and services may fall within the remit of an EU prohibition on platforms, including social networks, that aim advertising at children, to be set out in a forthcoming EU rule dubbed the Digital Fairness Act. The proposal arises from a European Commission review of consumer provisions for digital firms (see here). Consumer organisations and several EU member states urged the Digital Services Act’s advertising-targeting prohibition should cover ‘all traders’......
Written by Aziz Abdul, legal director, and Brian Rostron, associate, at Addleshaw Goddard LLP. Contract Natural Gas Ltd (in liquidation) v ZOG Energy Ltd (in liquidation) [2025] EWHC 86 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision is useful as it establishes, for the first time, how limitation applies to administrations begun after the Enterprise Act 2002. The court acknowledged that allowing time to continue after entry into administration may increase legal costs and complicate steps for creditors, who may feel compelled to issue protective claims to protect their positions. Nonetheless, those policy points were not compelling enough to support a statutory trust or to determine that time ceases to run. Reflecting the approach in Re Maxwell Fleet and Facilities Management Ltd [2001] 1 WLR 323, the court indicated that any gap in the law on the impact of an...
Chris Poulton v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 240 ( TC) The dispute centred on HMRC’s refusal of the appellant’s request for a VAT repayment under the DIY Housebuilders Scheme. The appellant had paid about £10,000 described as VAT to a contractor for groundworks, reflecting VAT shown on invoices for services supplied to him. It was accepted by all parties that those services should have been zero-rated for VAT. The supplier subsequently went into liquidation. The appellant wrote to HMRC seeking advice on how to recover VAT that had been charged in error. HMRC treated that correspondence as a repayment claim under the DIY Housebuilders Scheme. HMRC rejected the claim and applied to dismiss the appellant’s appeal on the basis that the FTT lacked jurisdiction to determine it. The central question was whether the appellant could rely on the Reemtsma principle. Under that...
Abbott Diabetes Care Inc (a corporation registered under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States) v Sinocare Inc (a corporation registered under the laws of the People’s Republic of China) and other companies [2025] EWHC 206 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? There are two principal practical consequences flowing from this decision. First, obtaining and preserving a valid registration for three-dimensional trade marks continues to be onerous, because the form of a product seldom serves, for the average consumer of the relevant goods, as a sign of commercial origin. Secondly, the evidence here brought into focus a crucial issue when attempting to show use of a mark in trade—namely, whether the sign has appeared by itself, or alongside other, usually more conspicuous, marks that indicate the provenance of the goods......
Employment Rights Bill, As Amended ( Amendment Paper), 5 March 2025 Employment Rights Bill— Stages What are the implications? The Amendment Paper sets out the amendments lodged by 5 March 2025 for consideration at the report stage. There are no immediate consequences because it is still uncertain which of these proposals—if any—will be approved and trigger revisions to the ERB, although government-backed amendments remain more likely to pass. The consolidated schedule within the Amendment Paper also contains previously tabled, non-government amendments that we covered in our earlier News Analysis: Employment Rights Bill—non-government proposed amendments. The government’s suggested changes, many stemming from conclusions reached in its consultation responses, provide practitioners with an early indication of adjustments that are expected to filter into this key item of employment legislation. As a result, close monitoring of the debate remains advisable for all employment law...
The SPP indicated it was supportive of the FRC’s planned updates to its actuarial guidance, referred to as Technical Actuarial Standard 300 ( TAS 300). In December 2024, the FRC opened a consultation outlining measures intended to assist practitioners undertaking actuarial work within the new defined benefit ( DB) funding framework. The Occupational Pension Schemes ( Funding and Investment Strategy and Amendment) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/462, together with the Pensions Regulator’s updated DB Funding Code of Practice, mandate the procurement of actuarial advice across several matters and the application of actuarial judgement......
US technology giants will continue to be obliged to comply with EU digital laws Speaking after threats by US President Donald Trump to hit back at jurisdictions that levy penalties or taxes on American tech firms, the EU's competition and trade regulator, the Commission, stressed it can police digital platforms in the EU regardless of where they are headquartered. It said the EU Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act apply in the same way to every significant online player operating within the single market, regardless of their incorporation location or who controls them, in order to guarantee safety, fairness and a level playing field across the EU, according to commission spokesperson Thomas......
The committee would establish permanently accessible panels to expedite and effectively oversee the arbitration stage of tax dispute settlement proceedings, the ministry stated in a news release......
Deutsche Bank Ag London and another company v Provincia Di Brescia [2024] EWHC 2967 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Opting for English law and English courts in standard ISDA arrangements continues to give banks valuable certainty when confronting Italian local authority challenges to the validity of swaps. The decision showcases the English court’s robust commitment to safeguarding the parties’ contractual bargain. Encouragingly, the ISDA Master Agreement’s jurisdiction clause was interpreted widely enough to encompass a dispute concerning the settlement agreement. The court’s conclusion that questioning the settlement agreement’s validity was, in substance, a challenge to the swaps themselves is commercially sensible, and it reassures parties that swaps disputes will not be diverted from the agreed forum by the back door... What was the background? The dispute concerned interest rate swaps entered into between Brescia and, respectively, DB and Dexia in 2006 and 2007. The...
Apple today has unveiled revisions to its child safety approach, adding fresh new controls for those under 18, while still continuing to contend that age assurance should be used in place of strict age verification by the app marketplaces. In a white paper, the firm firmly stated that rigorous age checks (such as being asked to present identification to use a service) are largely unnecessary for the majority of apps. ‘ Some services may deem it suitable, or even legally mandated, to implement age verification that confirms a user’s age with high confidence... Yet most apps do not’, the paper explains. ‘ Hence, the proper venue for tackling the risks of age-restricted material online is the smaller group of sites and applications that actually carry such content’, Apple added. The company further maintained that ‘demanding age verification at the app store level is not data...
AP Wireless v On Tower UK Ltd [2024] UKUT 00429 ( LC) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision clarifies that an assignee of an electronic communications agreement entered into by licence before 28 December 2017 will take the benefit of the Code rights granted by that arrangement, yet will not, merely by completing an assignment, become a contracting party. The rationale is that, although the benefit transfers on assignment, the corresponding burden under the agreement does not automatically move with it. To attain party status, the assignee must effectively step into the assignor’s position for all purposes, in all respects, acquiring every advantage under the agreement while also assuming every burden and obligation. In practice, this requires the assignee to covenant with either the assignor or the Site Provider to perform, and to be bound by, the...
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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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