Today is World Intellectual Property Day and the global members of the World Intellectual Property Office have joined forces to help raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trade marks and designs affect everyday lives. This year’s theme is ‘Designing the Future’.
Innovators and creative minds across the country are being encouraged to protect their inventions and ideas to help design the future. Designs are about the way an object looks and developers can invest a lot of time and money into making sure their designs are fit for purpose.
Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Wilcox said, “Designs touch almost every part of our day to day lives, from the chairs we sit on to the phones we use. Registering your design with the Intellectual Property Office can offer protection against unauthorised copies and imitations.
“We are keen to encourage businesses to get their designs protected to allow them to reap the potential financial rewards of their innovations. Many people are unaware that you can register a design for just £60, granting exclusive rights that are renewable for up to 25 years.
“Today is about raising awareness of the importance to businesses of protecting their innovative ideas. Investing in their creativity and ideas now can help shape growth and success in the future.”
Further information on World Intellectual Property Day can be found on the IPO website at
www.ipo.gov.uk.
If you have an invention, trade mark, original design or the practical application of a good idea that you wish to protect, contact us.
Posted April 26th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
A recent case will cause concern to anyone who has a specific wish that their estate should not pass to certain people. It involved a woman who left an estate of more than £400,000, which she wished to go to various animal charities.
The woman had a daughter, from whom she had been estranged for more than 25 years. She had written a letter explaining exactly why she did not want her daughter to benefit under her will.
The daughter, despite not having had any form of support from her mother since the estrangement, sought a share of the estate by making a claim under the legislation designed to grant relief to people who are dependent on a person who dies without making reasonable provision for them.
The Court of Appeal accepted the daughter’s claim, apparently on the ground that she was not well off and was a deserving case. So, despite her mother’s specific wish, she stands to inherit such sum as the court will later determine constitutes ‘reasonable provision’.
If you are concerned that your assets may fall into the hands of someone undeserving, we can advise you on the steps to take to help make sure this does not occur.
Posted April 26th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
The long-running battle between banks and their customers over alleged mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) plans took another step forward last week when the High Court dismissed a challenge brought by the banks that guidance on such policies issued by the Financial Services Authority on sales of insurance did not apply to PPI policies.
PPI policies were sold aggressively by banks to customers who took out loans. They insure the person taking the loan against redundancy and illness, with the insurer covering any loan payments due during the period of incapacity or unemployment. The cost of the policy was normally added to the loan on day one, meaning that if the debt was paid off early, premiums had been paid unnecessarily. Typically, a PPI policy would add more than 20 per cent to the loan.
The move paves the way for customers to receive refunds of premiums paid. However, an appeal by the banks is likely and, even if unsuccessful, the estimated £4.5 billion cost will inevitably end up being met by the current customers of the banks, most probably through the demise of free bank accounts.
If you have suffered a loss through being mis-sold a financial product, you may be able to obtain redress. Contact us for advice
Posted April 26th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
As expected, insurer the Prudential is to appeal to the Supreme Court following the Court of Appeal’s decision that communications with its tax advisers (a leading firm of accountants) relating to its tax planning were not professionally privileged.
Legal professional privilege is a doctrine that applies to communications between legal advisers and their clients and means that communications passing between them cannot normally be required to be used in evidence in court.
The Supreme Court granted leave of appeal to the Prudential on 14 April. The Prudential argues that it is unfair that only communications with its legal advisers are privileged, claiming that communications with other professional advisers advising on quasi-legal matters should also be privileged.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is backing the appeal.
Posted April 19th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
Chief financial officers (CFOs) are increasingly concerned that the UK may be headed for a ‘double-dip’ recession, according to a survey by accountants Deloitte.
The survey found that 29 per cent of CFOs predicted a double-dip and that optimism is at the lowest level in two years.
If you are concerned about difficulties with collecting debts, meeting your financial obligations, the availability of finance or protecting your business from trade risk we may be able to help.
Posted April 19th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
The Royal wedding has already put an extra bank holiday into the calendar on the 29th of the month and the House of Lords has reacted by allowing pubs an extra two hours of drinking time on the 29th and 30th of the month, so it looks like being a lively weekend.
For employers, however, the question arises of what to do about the ‘extra’ bank holiday as regards the entitlements of their employees.
As regards payment for the holiday, the contract of employment of the employee will determine the need to pay. In most cases, employers will not be required to pay staff for the bank holiday.
The rate of pay which applies for staff who work on the bank holiday will also depend on the contract of employment. There is no statutory right to overtime rates of pay or to time off in lieu for working on the 29th.
However, employers will need to balance the strict letter of the law against the need to maintain employee goodwill.
If you have concerns about any employment law matter or wish to revise your contracts of employment in the light of the recent developments as regards the default retirement age or any other matter, contact us for advice.
Posted April 14th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
It is not only tenants that go broke: increasingly, overstretched landlords are becoming insolvent.
If you are a commercial tenant coming up for a rent review, it makes sense to do some investigation into your landlord’s finances and to make sure that you protect your position if necessary.
If you have paid a rent deposit and it is not legally separate from the landlord’s other assets, it may be lost if the landlord becomes insolvent. Check your lease. It may be possible to persuade your landlord to refund the deposit or agree to vary the lease to allow the deposit to be protected.
If the landlord fails to comply with its covenants it is possible that the breach may be sufficiently serious to allow you to repudiate the lease.
However, one of the most common problems arises where the insolvent landlord is itself a tenant and defaults on its covenants with the head landlord. If this results in the forfeiture of the landlord’s lease, this could lead to the loss of the right to occupy the premises.
If you have concerns about what your position would be in the even of the insolvency of your landlord, we can advise you and assist in any necessary negotiations.
Posted April 13th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
A recent poll shows that less than half of a sample of people who commute into London save money by way of a pension.
One in five of the sample did not believe that pensions are a safe investment and one in seven believe that pensions are an inflexible form of saving.
With the state pension age set to keep creeping up and up as life expectancy increases (it moves to 66 in 2020), there is little sign that the yawning gap in the pension provision of many people is likely to be met, leaving millions facing greatly reduced living standards in old age.
Posted April 12th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
The man who disguised his house as a barn and then claimed that the local council was ‘out of time’ to take action with regard to the breach in planning permission has lost his appeal to the Supreme Court.
Having obtained planning permission to build a barn, the man built what looked like a barn from the outside, but was actually a three-bedroomed house.
He and his wife lived there for four years, during which the local authority was unaware of the breach of the planning permission. They then applied for a certificate of lawful use on the ground that the council had not taken any action with regard to their breach of planning permission within the four-year period laid down by statute for doing so. Obtaining the certificate would legitimise its use as a dwelling.
The key element of the judgment of the Supreme Court was that despite the apparently clear wording of the relevant legislation, the dishonesty exhibited by the couple was so far exceeded the contemplation of those who framed the legislation that the application could not be allowed to succeed. The council was given permission not only to prevent the continued occupation of the property as a dwelling but also to require its demolition.
The Supreme Court has indicated, in the clearest possible terms, that people who attempt to obtain a certificate of lawful use certificate by deception will not succeed. Another case, in which an unauthorised development was built and carefully hidden from view, is likely to be decided on the same basis.
Posted April 11th, 2011 in Uncategorized |
The Coalition Government has published the
Protection of Freedoms Bill 2010/2011, which contains a wide range of measures aimed at ending the unnecessary scrutiny of law-abiding individuals.
If enacted, the Bill will result in:
-
a radical reform of the vetting and barring scheme that will see a large reduction in the number of individuals requiring checks to just those who work most closely with children and vulnerable adults;
-
DNA samples and fingerprints of innocent people being deleted from police databases;
-
an end to town hall snoopers checking householders’ rubbish bins or school catchment area;
-
the scrapping of Section 44 powers, which have been used to stop and search hundreds of thousands of innocent people;
-
the permanent reduction of the maximum period of pre-charge detention for terrorist suspects to 14 days;
-
gay men being able to clear their name with the removal of out-of-date convictions for consensual acts; and
-
thousands of motorists protected from rogue wheel clamping firms.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who has been instrumental in shaping the contents of the Bill said, “The Freedoms Bill will protect millions of people from state intrusion in their private lives and mark a return to common sense government.”
Other measures included in the Bill include:
-
an end to the fingerprinting of children in schools without parental consent;
-
the introduction of a code of practice for CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems;
-
restrictions on the powers of government departments, local authorities and other public bodies to enter private homes and other premises for investigations and a requirement for all to examine and slim down remaining powers;
-
the repeal of powers to hold serious and complex fraud trials without a jury;
-
the liberalisation of marriage laws to allow people to marry outside the hours of 8am-6pm; and
-
the extension of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and strengthening the public rights to data.
The Government’s aim is that the Bill will be enacted by late 2011 or early 2012.
Posted April 8th, 2011 in Uncategorized |