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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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4VVV Ltd and others v Spence and others [2024] EWHC 2434 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? The claim revolved around three principal causes of action, including deceit. The claimants contended that statements made to them, which persuaded them to commit funds to the schemes, were fraudulent. A successful deceit claimant may recover every loss directly arising from the fraud, whether or not it was reasonably foreseeable. That extends to consequential losses and profits forgone on an alternative transaction they would have pursued but for the deceit. The claimant must, however, give credit for any gains made as a result of the relevant transactions. Rescission, as an equitable remedy, may likewise be sought, and was pursued here for the relevant contracts. The burden of proving the tort of deceit rests with the claimants. In 4VVV, each lead claimant had to establish that: the...
Equality ( Race and Ethnicity) Bill In October, the Labour government reignited its longstanding goal to require employers to disclose pay disparities across racial groups, resurrecting a plan shelved by the Conservatives as unworkable. The draft Equality ( Race and Ethnicity) Bill would compel organisations with over 250 employees to publish ethnicity and disability pay gaps, mirroring gender reporting. It will need further regulations and likely will not arrive until the latter part of Labour’s five-year term. Lawyers warn this sweeping framework will pose fresh tests for employers: from methods for gathering and submitting data to government, to managing employee and stakeholder reactions to the process—and to any disparities exposed. Many had anticipated ethnicity reporting would come first, as some major employers already gather those figures voluntarily. Yet even ethnicity reporting—more familiar than the uncharted task of calculating disability gaps—is far more...
FES Ltd v HFD Construction Group Ltd [2024] CSIH 37 What are the practical implications of this case? This decision affirms that, within the Scottish SBC conditions, a contractor’s right to be reimbursed for direct loss and/or expense arising from a Relevant Matter is dependent upon observance of the procedure in clause 4.21. Notify the Architect/ Contract Administrator of the Relevant Matter at the point its probable effect becomes reasonably evident. Thereafter, provide an initial evaluation of the loss and/or expense together with any further particulars required, in line with clauses 4.21.1–4.21.4. In short, compliance with clause 4.21 is a condition precedent to any entitlement. The court was in no doubt that this is the sense conveyed by the wording of clause 4.20 in the Scottish SBC terms, which sets out the contractor’s entitlement to recover loss and/or...
Antitrust General Court largely dismisses action against Commission’s infringement decision regarding cartel in sector for suprasovereign bonds, sovereign bonds and public agency bonds denominated in US dollars The General Court has delivered its judgment in Joined Cases T-386/21, Crédit agricole and Crédit agricole Corporate and Investment Bank v Commission, and T-406/21, UBS Group and Credit Suisse Securities ( Europe) v Commission. These actions challenged the Commission’s decision of 28 April 2021, which identified an infringement and levied fines on several banks for their participation in the secondary trading market within the EEA for supra-sovereign, sovereign and agency ( SSA) bonds denominated in US dollars ( Case AT.40346). The General Court largely dismissed the actions, thereby sustaining the Commission’s conclusions and penalties concerning conduct on the relevant secondary market for US dollar‑denominated SSA...
Mergers Boparan/ For Farmers ( Burston and Radstock mills) merger meets the test for reference to phase 2 The CMA has published its decision on the expected takeover by Boparan Private Office Limited, via 2 Agriculture Limited (2Agriculture), of For Farmers UK Limited’s Burston and Radstock feed mills, meeting the test for reference to phase 2. For Farmers, based in the Netherlands, is a European producer and supplier of animal feed. 2Agriculture, a Boparan subsidiary, is among the UK’s largest poultry feed providers by volume and directs its output to Hook 2 Sisters, a Boparan‑linked company, as well as to farmers on the open market. At phase 1, the CMA concluded that the deal gives rise to a realistic prospect of an SLC due to horizontal effects in the supply of poultry feed to third‑party customers across several local areas in East Anglia (...
SATA Internacional- Azores Airline SA v Hi Fly Ltd [2024] EWHC 2762 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision examines the requirement for rectification (here, of a novation agreement) and highlights the distinct approach to admissible material in construction cases as compared with rectification claims. It shows the court first construing the written terms by applying an objective test, and then, by reference to a broader evidential record and a subjective test, deciding whether the contract recorded the parties’ common assumption at the time of contracting, such that rectification might be ordered. The judge also emphasised the difficulties of litigating events long after they occurred, noting that, alongside the oft-cited observations of Leggatt J in Gestmin SGPS SA v Credit Suisse ( UK) Ltd, contemporaneous documents are crucial to the rigorous assessment of oral testimony. Yet it is also...
Infrastructure Services Luxembourg and another v Spain; Border Timbers Ltd and another v Zimbabwe [2024] EWCA Civ 1257 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal has confirmed that a sovereign cannot block the registration of an ICSID award in the English courts by invoking state immunity under the SIA. By reversing Mr Justice Dias’s first-instance ruling in Border Timbers v Zimbabwe, the Court has realigned English law with approaches taken across numerous common law and civil law systems. The court expressly observed that this outcome is beneficial, since, as a general principle, international treaties ought to be construed consistently by the courts of all contracting states. Most significantly, the decision is a boost for award creditors seeking to enforce ICSID awards. The judgment underscores the English courts’ pro-enforcement orientation towards investor–state decisions. It therefore provides reassurance to parties...
See Q& A: Does preparing a deed of surrender amount to a reserved legal activity? If it does, can a solicitor employed by a non‑authorised organisation draft such a deed? Reserved legal activities Under section 13 of the Legal Services Act 2007 ( LSA 2007), only certain persons may undertake reserved legal activities: authorised by an approved legal services regulator identified in LSA 2007, Sch 4; or exempt under LSA 2007, Sch 3, which provides tailored exemptions for each reserved legal activity; or (pursuant to transitional provisions still in force) non‑commercial bodies, eg not‑for‑profit organisations and trade unions The reserved activities are listed in LSA 2007, s 12, and the scope of each is defined in LSA 2007, Sch 2......
Athleta ( ITM) Inc v Sports Group Denmark A/ S and another [2024] EWHC 2449 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling underlines a key principle: to rely on use of a trade mark displayed on non- UK websites, those sites must actively target UK consumers. Merely despatching goods bearing the marks into the UK via those websites is insufficient. The decision further demonstrates that, even where word marks are assessed as highly similar and the relevant goods/services are identical or similar, a likelihood of confusion may still be absent where the marks possess only a low level of distinctiveness. Conversely, infringement was established where the more distinctive device elements in one of the claimant’s marks and one of the defendant’s marks were also found to be similar. Overall, marks with a low degree of...
Booking.com and Booking.com ( Deutschland) Case C-264/23 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Justice judgment carries particular substantive weight for online platforms. It provides unambiguous direction that, in the Court’s assessment, neither wide nor narrow parity clauses fulfil the criteria of an ancillary restraint, as they are not objectively required for carrying out the principal operation. Consequently, such provisions cannot be treated as collateral to the core service. In this matter, the principal operation is the supply of online hotel reservation services by platforms such as Booking.com. Although, in specific instances and depending on the precise business model, advancing an ancillary-restraint justification may not be entirely out of the question, the obstacles to doing so are exceptionally high, and the evidential burden is significant. For Booking.com itself, the ruling has limited...
In this piece, we explore the AI Convention and outline its key provisions. We delve into the Convention’s compliance and oversight framework, together with the consequences and remedies for non‑compliance, in detail. Finally, we assess what the AI Convention signifies for global AI regulation and offer practical pointers to help businesses in this space get compliance‑ready. Existing regulation Over the past year or so, governments worldwide have weighed up whether, and how, to regulate AI at home: US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on AI in October 2023; the UK government pledged in July to introduce legislation targeting the most powerful AI models; and the EU’s comprehensive AI Act took effect on 1 August 2024. China has enacted its own AI laws too. In addition, several US states, such as California, are actively moving to pass state‑level AI safety laws. There have also been steps on AI...
LP International Company Limited v Vietnam International Arbitration Centre 06/2024/ KDTM- PT What are the practical implications of this case? This decision underscores how vital it is to pinpoint the competent court and to classify the dispute correctly. Court jurisdiction LP Company initially misfiled proceedings against the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre ( VIAC) in the Dong Da District People’s Court. As the matter related to commercial arbitration, jurisdiction belonged to a provincial-level People’s Court under the 2010 Law on Commercial Arbitration ( Article 7.3) and the 2015 Civil Procedure Code ( Articles 31.2 and 37.1.b). The mistake led to the appellate court setting aside the first-instance judgment, slowing resolution and squandering time and resources. Practitioners should remember that provincial-level People’s Courts are the proper forum for disputes touching on commercial arbitration in Vietnam. Nature of the dispute Here, LP Company demanded from VIAC more than VND 1.3bn in...
FTT rejects HMRC’s interpretation of contracted out expenditure in R& D rules ( Collins Construction Ltd v HMRC) Collins Construction Ltd v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 951 ( TC) The claimant operated as a building company, handling both the design and the delivery of refurbishment projects for other businesses. Its invitations to tender did not expressly call for any research and development activity; nevertheless, from time to time the firm had to engineer original fixes for particular technical challenges. A case in point was a reverberation issue, for which it devised a bespoke approach. There was no disagreement that this spend—and comparable costs—were incurred on R& D. The debate concerned whether relief was prohibited because the expenditure had been subsidised. The Corporation Tax Act 2009 characterises expenditure as subsidised where the cost is borne, directly or indirectly, by a person other than the company making the...
Prepared by Pépin Aslett, barrister and Head of the Business and Property Team, St John’s Buildings, together with Lucas Gregory, pupil barrister, St John’s Buildings. URE Energy Ltd v Notting Hill Genesis [2024] EWHC 2537 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision highlights several practical points for practitioners to bear in mind when asked to draft contractual terms or to advise in matters raising the defence of waiver by election. In deciding whether a rights holder suspected that a right might be engaged—and therefore should not have turned a blind eye—the court considered the following: any correspondence or discussions concerning the contract and any potential breaches whether the clause in question would have been prominent or of real significance to a party when negotiating and agreeing the contract whether the term had been expressly brought to that...
Mergers CMA consults on proposed remedies package in Vodafone/ Three phase 2 merger investigation The CMA has issued a remedies working paper outlining and setting out its detailed analysis and provisional view, at this stage, on the suitable remedy to tackle the SLC and the consequent harms identified in its September provisional findings in its phase 2 probe into the anticipated joint venture between Vodafone Group Plc and CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, relating to Vodafone Limited ( VUK) and Hutchison 3G UK Limited (3UK). On 13 September, the CMA reached a provisional view that the deal would be likely to give rise to an SLC in the UK markets for the provision of retail mobile telecommunications services and for wholesale mobile telecommunication services. For further details on the CMA’s ongoing phase 2 decision, see Vodafone/ CK Hutchison JV. The CMA’s paper records a...
Kings Chariot v Tarun Wadhwa ARB. P. 421/2024 The parties’ contract included an arbitration clause providing that any dispute between them would be referred to arbitration, with the arbitrator to be chosen by mutual consent. Another clause contained in an annexure to the contract declared that all disputes were subject to Delhi jurisdiction only. Disputes arose between the parties, after which the Petitioner triggered arbitration and moved the DHC under section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ( A& C Act), seeking the appointment of an arbitrator. The respondent contended that the DHC lacked jurisdiction because the cause of action lay in Madhya Pradesh, where the agreement was executed and where the respondent maintained its place of business. The DHC declined to entertain the matter and refused to exercise jurisdiction, concluding that the contract’s jurisdiction clause was merely a general...
Procurement International Ltd v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 949 ( TC) The Appellant supplied goods to reward programme operators ( RPOs), who then made onward supplies of those goods to employers. The RPOs ran online platforms enabling eligible recipients—employees and/or customers of those employers—to choose a reward comprising goods. After a recipient made a selection, the RPO submitted an order to the Appellant. The Appellant subsequently organised the movement of the goods from its Great Britain warehouse, using shippers with whom it held contracts, to the recipient’s address. The dispute related to goods provided to UK VAT-registered RPOs and (a) delivered to recipients situated outside the EU before 1 January 2021, and (b) delivered to recipients located outside the UK after 31 December 2020. HMRC accepted that the goods had been exported but did not accept that the Appellant was the...
Competition policy Speaking at the Autorité de la concurrence in Paris, the European Central Bank ( ECB) president, Christine Lagarde, stressed that a ‘pro-competition’ stance is vital if Europe is to deliver on its policy ambitions, notably the Green and Digital transitions. She underscored the importance of measures that uphold fair rivalry, curb monopolistic outcomes and keep regulatory frameworks consistent with wider EU aims, see further—press release Mergers The Commission cleared the acquisition of joint control of Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l. by Snam S.p. A and VTTI B. V ( M.11568) following a phase I review, see further— Midday Express The Commission received notifications for: FNAC DARTY/ UNIEURO ( M.11662) (simplified merger procedure) BMWK/ MOF NDS/ Meyer Germany ( M.11733) (simplified merger procedure) NOTE— For...
On 31 October 2024, Aon stated that a comprehensive assessment of insured losses was not yet available. However, the insurance broker warned that the bill for damage to homes and other property alone was likely to reach the hundreds of millions of euros. Several days of flash flooding across four regions have torn through bridges and vehicles, reportedly claiming more than 200 lives. Troops have been mobilised following forecasts of further downpours in the Valencia region between 2–3 November 2024......
Marsh stated that the facility is designed to help firms manage the mounting risks associated with certificates that signify a reduction or removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These certificates are typically issued by third-party verification bodies and are purchased by businesses to offset their own emissions. Yet the insurance broker warned that the carbon credit market is being targeted by criminals who peddle counterfeit certificates or credits tied to projects that do not exist. ‘ As carbon credits become a core component of corporate strategies to meet net-zero targets, companies are left more exposed to fraudsters seeking to profit from this expanding market,’ said Rupert Poland, Marsh’s UK digital asset lead. ‘ The lack of standardisation and transparency in 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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