In a recent real estate case, a court dismissed a lawsuit by a buyer to require the seller to sell him the property because the court found that the agreements between the parties contained in text messages and emails were unenforceable. This raises a significant concern over the enforceability of changes or amendments to construction contracts made by text or email, especially ones that will take a long time to perform ...
The Portland Business Journal has now ranked the region's law firms by the diversity on their professionals for six years based on our annual survey for The List of law firms. We've refined the methodology again this year to improve the ranking. Beyond just ranking firms by percentages of women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) and LGBTQIA+ lawyers and partners, we indexed them against the percentage of female (50 ...
Genuine Enabling Technology LLC v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., Appeal No. 2020-2167 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 1, 2022) The Federal Circuit’s only precedential patent opinion this week turned on issues of claim construction. In particular, the issue was the effect of statements made by the applicant during the patent’s prosecution. The Court held that the district court erred in applying too narrow a construction, and reversed with a modified construction ...
Lao PDR is following the regional trend of taxing the activities of non-resident E-Commerce and digital platform service providers. In this client update, we provide the key features and our commentary on the Ministry of Finance’s Notification on the Implementation of the Tax Obligations of the E-Commerce and Digital Platform No. 0541/MOF, dated 24 February 2022 (“the Notification”) ...
The proposal for a directive on the recovery and resolution of insurance and reinsurance companies enshrines the no creditor worse off principle as provided for in the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (“BRRD”). This opens the door for the Portuguese legislature to repeat the mistakes it made when incorporating the BRRD into Portuguese law ...
In light of the current geopolitical situation, the severe US and EU sanctions, and Russian counter sanctions imposed in response, many international companies have already announced their plans either to leave the Russian market, or to temporarily suspend their business operations in Russia. The current unprecedented situation is a great challenge for companies, since it requires complex decisions to be made, in a very short time ...
Following the Scottish Government’s statement on 15 March 2022 regarding COVID-19 restrictions, organisations should take time to review the status of recently eased restrictions, and those which are to be eased in the coming weeks. These changes will be of particular relevance to businesses and employers throughout Scotland, who should follow the up-to-date guidance when dealing with employees and customers alike ...
The recent Winter Olympic Games and the conclusion of the Six Nations rugby were just two of many sporting events, large and small, that have been welcoming back fans (in accordance with local laws and restrictions) over the last several weeks. As we continue to live with COVID-19, it is crucial that organisers of sporting and other events are aware of health and safety requirements and their duty of care towards attendees ...
The UK’s new safeguard mechanism for international transfers of personal data came into force on 21 March 2022. Organisations that make restricted transfers of personal data should review their data transfer processes now ...
As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, many issues which have been on the back-burner over the past few years are starting to resurface. In this article we take a look at some hot topics and legal developments we are expecting to take place this year. Flexible working As those of us who have worked from home for the past two years start returning in earnest to the office, flexible working is on everyone’s lips ...
Agricultural and rural settings present significant health and safety risks, which must be carefully managed and mitigated by employers and landowners operating in the sector. This was brought into sharp focus after two fatalities led to prosecutions following investigations by The Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Prosecution one In February, a farmer was prosecuted after a tragic fatal incident on farmland in Leeds ...
The establishment by the Scottish Government of a food security task force is a necessary and timely response to the war in Ukraine. In addition to the harrowing humanitarian crisis, the conflict has prompted significant concern among food producers. The UK food sector and consumers are currently facing a perfect storm just as we begin to emerge from the pandemic ...
AUTHOR: Lynn Lazaro Partner, Kochhar & Co. Bangalore Office EMAIL: [email protected] NFTs have been around since 2015 on the Ethereum blockchain and have significantly grown over the years especially in the digital art industry. However, not all NFTs are art related. Some NFTs are also attached to physical products where they could act like security. “NFT” basically stands for a “non-fungible token” ...
On 28 March 2022 the government published its paper Taking charge: the electric vehicle infrastructure strategy1 (Taking Charge) and an accompanying document, Government response to the CMA’s Electric vehicle charging market study (the Response).2 At the current roll-out of approximately 600 public chargepoints installed every month, there will be close to 90,000 chargepoints in the United Kingdom by 2030 ...
Economic sanctions The sanctions imposed by the UK, European Union and US following the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia target the Russian economy. Whilst Russia is the largest country in the world, in terms of the global economy it only made up 3.11% of Global GDP in 2020. The sanctions imposed however will still have wide ranging impacts on all areas of the global market, and can already be seen in dramatically rising energy prices ...
By Glenn Kangisser Shu Shu Wong March 11, 2022 Earlier this month, the English Commercial Court upheld an appeal from an arbitration in MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022] EWHC 467 (Comm) that a “reasonable endeavours” requirement in a force majeure clause, invoked due to the impact of US sanctions on Russia, did not require the party claiming force majeure to accept non-contractual performance ...
By Jeffrey Wolfson March 22, 2022 In the wake of financial sanctions by the United States, the United Kingdom, EU nations, and various other countries against Russia for its unprovoked attack on Ukraine1, you might be considering what, if anything, to do about your patents, trademarks, utility models, industrial designs, etc., in Russia. You may have already decided to write off your Russian IP as a complete loss ...
As a business owner, you know how much goes into creating strategies and plans for long-term success. Creating a well-executed succession plan that identifies and develops future company leaders that may include transferring ownership to them, ensures that the business you have built continues to grow. Here are some things to consider when developing a succession plan ...
[!<CDATA[ A recent decision by the Eleventh Circuit (the federal appeals court supervising trial courts in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama) sheds light on at least one way that insurers with complicated policies (and a host of exclusions) may avoid providing coverage and defense resources to insured material suppliers whose products are the focus of defect claims. In Morgan Concrete Company v ...
The UK's competition authority (CMA) unusually cleared a merger (Sony Music / AWAL) after nine months of investigation. Could a Phase 2 investigation have been avoided? On 16 March 2022 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued its final report into the completed acquisition by Sony Music Entertainment (Sony Music) of AWAL and Kobalt Neighbouring rights businesses from Kobalt Music Group Limited ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends,The issue of whether an employee is transferred or seconded can sometimes prove rather contentious. In a transfer, the employment relationship to transferred to the new employer (i.e. the original company is no longer the employer), whereas in a secondment situation, the employee remains under the employment of the original company but may perform work for the secondee company ...
During the US President’s visit to Brussels, President Biden and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated on Friday 25 March that the parties have agreed on the main principles of a new agreement on the protection of personal data transferred to the United States. While a concrete agreement text has not yet been published, the US White House has published a Fact Sheet explaining the key principles to be expected in the final framework ...
