After spending over 10 years in court, the Google vs. Oracle copyright saga has finally come to an end. The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling 6-2 in Google’s favor, found that when Google used pieces of Java software developed by Oracle to build the Android operating system, it was within the parameters of the fair use doctrine that permits the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances ...
On the 23rd March 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rendered a Grand Chamber decision on a preliminary reference transmitted to it by a Swedish tribunal in a matter concerning air passenger rights (Airhelp Ltd v. Scandinavian Airline System SAS, c-28/20) ...
For most of the last decade, creative plaintiffs attorneys and their clients — states, municipalities and environmental groups — have pushed novel, untested tort theories designed to hold energy companies, and sometimes, those same state and municipal interests, liable for climate change. Plaintiffs have concentrated their efforts in West Coast forums. But New York and Baltimore saw some action too. Florida, by and large, has avoided the fray. No longer ...
Raytheon Techs. Corp. v. General Elec. Co., Appeal No. 2020-1755 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 16, 2021) In its only precedential patent decision this week, the Federal Circuit issued an important ruling about the issue of enablement as it applies to prior references used in an obviousness analysis. Raytheon owned a patent related to gas turbine engines ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, We are pleased to bring you the March 2021 issue of our quarterly Newsletter, we hope that you will continue to find its contents of value to you. Real Estate PJD Regency Sdn Bhd v Tribunal Tuntutan Pembeli Rumah: Calculation of Liquidated Agreed Damages commences from the Date of Payment of Booking Fee A case note by Alexis Yong Mey Ling … read more ...
Lifting of US Sanctions The US Government announced the removal of Sudan from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism effective as of Monday 14 December 2020. After 27 years of US sanctions, such step restores sovereign immunity for the Sudanese government in US Courts. It is also a critical step in the process of reintegrating Sudan into the global economy and offering a lifeline of international financial aid to Sudan ...
Further to the decline of the Covid-19 spread in Israel after the successful vaccination rollout, Israel has announced changes in foreign entry policy into the country, which will allow, among others, the regular entry of foreign experts and businessmen. These reliefs come after several months in which the state borders were almost completely closed to foreigners ...
What options does one have when they discover that a term in a previously executed contract or written instrument was worded poorly, or incorrectly drafted? Generally, parties in this scenario may seek the remedy of rectification, which gives a court the equitable jurisdiction to rectify or correct the document so that it accords with the parties’ true agreement ...
The recent Court of First Instance decision in Li Yiqing v Lamtex Holdings Limited [2021] HKCFI 622 (11 March 2021) is a landmark decision in cross-border insolvency law in Hong Kong, in which the Court held that when it is considering the recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings, regard should not simply be had to the place of incorporation of the relevant company, but that in a departure from previous practice, the location of the company’s centre of main interest (COMI) is
In the recent case of AB V CD, HCCT 27/2020, 18 February 2021the Court granted the application of AB Engineering, to set aside a HKIAC arbitral award made against it in Hong Kong, finding that it was not a party to the relevant agreement containing the arbitration clause (Agreement) ...
The National Government issued Decree 360 of 2021 that modifies the customs regime contained in Decree 265 of 2019, in order to provide legal security to foreign trade users by specifying the substantial and formal obligations that must be met in the customs procedures and regimes. In addition, it temporarily modified the obligation regarding the minimum amount of liquid assets required of customs agencies ...
On March 26, 2021, the Superior Court rendered a decision dismissing a class action against the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (“IIROC”) on the loss of personal information of thousands of Canadian investors.1 The lack of evidence of compensable injury and IIROC’s diligent behaviour are the main reasons for the dismissal of the class action. The Facts On February 22, 2013, an inspector working for IIROC forgot his laptop computer in a public place ...
The South African Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) recently delivered judgment in the matter of FirstRand Bank Limited v The Spar Group Limited. The SCA held that: A customer with no entitlement to money deposited into its account and who knows that it enjoys no such entitlement, may not pay out money against the credit to the account. Doing so amounts to theft ...
In the recent judgment of Divine Inspiration Trading 205 (Pty) Limited and another v Katherine Gordon and 2 others, the Western Cape High Court found, in essence, that the rules of court override the interests protected under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) and ordered that personal information be disclosed. In this matter, the applicants sought an order for the disclosure of Ms Gordon’s medical records from her medical practitioners ...
The protracted legal battle between software giant Oracle America Inc. (“Oracle”) and technology behemoth Google LLC (“Google”) has truly been one for the ages. The Supreme Court of the United States of America (“SCOTUS”) on 05 April 2021 delivered its judgment in the writ of Certiorari filed by Google against Oracle ...
The designation of eight new Freeports within England made headlines in the Budget and now the winning bidders have to put into effect their successful proposals. What will this mean in practice for those areas affected and what are the likely issues that Freeport authorities will face? We have pulled together some questions we are asked frequently on Freeports, together with the responses we have been providing to our clients ...
The Court of Appeal (CoA) has allowed a SIPP investor’s appeal in Adams v Options UK Personal Pensions LLP (2021) EWCA Civ 474 and provided important guidance on the interpretation of Article 25 and 53 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Regulated Activities Order 2001 ...
The HKIAC’s statistics for 2020 reveal that in 2020 the HKIAC received a record number of arbitration filings (the highest number received in over a decade) and the total amount in dispute in the arbitrations was another record high. Most hearings were fully or partially virtual, which is unsurprising given the pandemic outbreak last year. The following are some of the more notable statistics: 483 new cases were submitted to the HKIAC in 2020 ...
In our previous article, we reported on the Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between Mainland China and the HKSAR (Supplemental Arrangement) made on 27 November 2020, which made certain revisions to the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between Mainland China and the HKSAR, as follows: Recognition of arbitral awards -The Supplemental Arrangement clarified that the procedures set out in the Arrangement shall be in
In DR Jones Yeovil Ltd v The Stepping Stone Group Ltd [2020] EWHC 2308 (TCC), England’s Technology and Construction Court ruled in favour of a contractor in its claim for unpaid retention under a JCT contract and dismissed the employer’s counterclaim for alleged defects. Certificates of Making Good were never issued and one of the questions before the court was whether that meant there could be no recovery of the balance of retention ...
The appeal in ABC Electrification Ltd v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 1645, concerned the proper construction of a Target Cost Contract based upon the standard Institute of Civil Engineers Conditions of Contract, Target Cost Version, First Edition (ICE Conditions) and subject to standard amendments commonly used in the rail industry, known as Network Rail 12 (N12 Amendments) ...
In the recent case of Cheng Pan & Anor v Yau Lai Wah, HCA 376/2015, the Court held the Defendant liable for loss and damage caused by water leakage from his property into a neighbouring property, which resulted from the Defendant’s contractors carrying out works to pipes located in the Defendant’s property ...
