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Last week, Europe’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union set aside the 2015 General Court decision in the long running ‘Port Charlotte’ trademark case. The ECJ concluded that the trademark ‘Port Charlotte’ used in relation to Scottish whisky is not attempting to evoke Port wine and that when considering a Protected Designation of Origin, EU law exclusively applies. This decision is also an unusual example of the ECJ departing from an opinion of the Advocate General, in certain important respects.
The Court of Appeal has overruled the High Court’s landmark decision in the case of IBM v Dalgleish. The successful appeal overturns the High Court’s earlier ruling that IBM breached its duties as an employer in making certain changes to its occupational pension scheme. This will be welcome news for those employers who have already altered or are seeking to alter their pension arrangements but care will still need to be taken to ensure that members’ concerns are treated appropriately.
The Criminal Finances Act 2017 contains two new corporate criminal offences of failure to prevent criminal facilitation of tax evasion, that will come into effect on 30 September 2017.
Responses to the UK Government’s Green Paper on corporate governance reform have again highlighted the strong business case for gender diversity in the boardroom. We consider the current UK position, and current proposals at Scottish and EU levels, to tackle this issue.
The UK legal system is one that is based on precedence and case law. Over the course of hundreds of years, the courts have made decisions that impact how the law works today and how it will evolve in the future. There are countless landmark decisions that have impacted the legal landscape in the UK and we have outlined just a few.
Recovery of the costs of litigation is an important consideration whether defending or pursuing a claim. The rules for recovery in Scotland are similar to those applicable in England & Wales, but there are important differences to be aware of. In the first of a two part webinar series we explore these differences and more.
CCHG Limited t/a Vaporized v Vapouriz Limited is an appeal of a decision by a hearing officer at the UK Intellectual Property Office. This decision marks the first appeal made to the Court of Session, indeed to any Scottish court, of an HO’s decision under the Trade Mark Act 1994. This is quite different to the position in England where a number of such appeals have been brought before the English courts. Ultimately, Lady Wolffe upheld the HO’s decision in full.
The EAT has upheld the Employment Tribunal’s decision that female Asda retail employees could compare themselves with the higher paid male Asda distribution centre employees for equal pay purposes.
The Barclay Review, published on 22 August 2017, considers the current rates system in Scotland and proposes 30 individual recommendations on how the rates system could be reformed. Read more.
The Pensions Regulator has published its policy document setting out its description of a professional trustee, which includes examples to demonstrate how it will apply the policy in practice.
Watch our webinar for an overview of the mediation process used in resolving construction disputes and receive helpful tips from our experts. A recording can be viewed here.
Watch our webinar for practical guidance on how, in the face of an investigation, the best outcomes can be achieved and the damage limitation tactics which can be adopted should things go wrong. A recording of the webinar can be viewed here.
Shepherd and Wedderburn hosted three webinars this summer looking at three aspects of English Property Law. Webinars by Partners Neil Rainey, Lynne Scott and Colin McKay and Solicitor Emma Carmichael cover a broad spectrum of topics that are often discussed in relation to Real Estate.
There are three in the series:
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