Many companies have a keen interest in recycling and upcycling old products for resale, both for environmental and promotional purposes. But when those products contain third-party intellectual property, there can be trademark and copyright concerns. Dinsmore intellectual property partner Karen Gaunt wrote about this topic for Best Lawyers' Women in Law issue, out this month. Gaunt herself has been named a Best Lawyer multiple times since 2013. An excerpt of the article is below ...
Tackling base erosion and profit shifting remains a priority for the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”). It was recently reported that in the 2021 fiscal year, SARS dealt with 345 cases of transfer pricing, base erosion and profit shifting to the value of almost ZAR12-billion. Yet, only three South African courts have dealt with transfer pricing ...
We have seen emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe opening up and developing quite quickly. Some of them have done so through their ascension to the European Union and others by organising their legislation in accordance with European standards, opening up borders, having foreign investors come in, as well as putting in place free trade agreements and investment incentives. Of course, transitional economies traditionally have a lot to offer to foreign investors ...
Over a period of less than 24 hours on the 16thof April, the United Arab Emirates experienced its heaviest rainfall since records began 75 years ago, with sources recording a years’ worth of rain falling in one day. The record-breaking rains created destructive flooding and chaos. Properties in the UAE were under attack by natural elements – rain, wind and flood. Many suffered from severe flooding, rising groundwater, and water through the walls and windows as well as through roofs ...
Recently, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, a third opinion in what is now a trilogy of cases upholding the validity of class action waiver clauses in contracts containing arbitration agreements ...
What is the CTA? The CTA was enacted on January 1st, 2021 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act to prevent the use of companies to evade anti-money laundering rules or to hide other illegal activities. Under the CTA companies will be required to report information regarding its beneficial owners with a beneficial ownership registry maintained by the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ...
The United Kingdom (UK) Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act (the Act”) came into force on 15th March, 2022. A new Register of Overseas Entities will be created and held by Companies House. This new Act forms part of the UK government’s strategy to combat economic crime, while making sure that legitimate businesses continue to see the UK as a great place to invest ...
The recent case of John Doyle Construction (JDC) v Erith Contractors Limited provides two lessons for the construction sector concerning the enforcement of adjudicators’ decisions by companies in liquidation. First, “clear, evidenced, and unequivocal security” is necessary before enforcement is possible. Second, where a solvent and paying party asserts set-off and counter-claims, enforcement is prohibited in most circumstances ...
On 9 July 2021, Canterbury Crown Court imposed a record £90 million fine on Southern Water after the water and sewerage company admitted widespread and long term breaches of environmental law. Sentencing, the Honourable Mr Justice Johnson is reported* as saying he was aware that the company’s “continued viability” may be reviewed following the fine, but that this was “an acceptable consequence of the seriousness of those failings” ...
What is the ROE? The ROE is a UK wide register created through the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, administered by the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales. A key aim of the legislation is to obtain and record details of property located anywhere in the UK held by overseas entities as well as to ascertain details of the beneficial owner(s) of such overseas entities ...
On 12 May 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to holding a Public Inquiry into COVID-19 that will place "the state's actions under the microscope". Demonstrating that it is independent, objective and fair is fundamental to an Inquiry’s purpose. We take a look at the extent to which the State can effectively examine itself in a Public Inquiry when it has ultimate responsibility for determining the remit, and therefore inevitably the scope of any conclusions ...
From Dominic Cummings to Nicola Sturgeon, 2023 was a noisy, headline-grabbing year for the UK’s public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic. What’s coming in 2024? And what does it mean for businesses? In terms of media exposure, the first full year in the life of the UK’s official Covid-19 Inquiry was a resounding success ...
The approval of the long awaited Federal Law on Arbitration by the Federal National Council was announced earlier this year ...
In an earlier inBrief dated 9 December 2014 we wrote about Federal Law No. 4/2012 on the regulation of competition (the “Competition Law”), which introduced the means by which the United Arab Emirates could regulate anti-competitive practices ...
April 18, 2024 By: Leah Lively and Alexandra Shulman The Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, that will make it easier for employees to pursue discrimination claims against their employers based on job transfers or other non-pecuniary personnel decisions. In Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Muldrow, a female police officer, alleged that she was transferred to a less desirable unit because a new supervisor preferred a male officer for the role ...
On the first day of renewals the NMLS brought to me, system issues and lock outs. Yes, the 2021 Renewal season brought no holiday joy to either regulator or industry users. The first twelve days did present challenges with system lockouts, duplicate billings, error messages and frustration. In fact, this being the thirteenth NMLS renewal period, it fell right in line as the unluckiest one of all ...
Insurance contracts, like any other type of contract, require informed consent by all signatories. This concept is especially relevant considering that an insurance contract is an example of uberrimae fidei, i.e. an agreement requiring the utmost and the most absolute good faith when one party is disclosing facts that could influence the other party?s decision. In other words, policyholders are held to a high degree of honesty when providing their insurers with information ...
Is Coronavirus the Great Leveller? When the novel coronavirus first started spreading like wildfire, people called it the “great leveller”. No respecter of status or economic background, Covid-19 affected people at all strata, from housemaids to Hollywood royalty; peons to prime ministers. Tom Hanks, Boris Johnson and an aide to US Vice President Mike Pence all contracted it ...
It is now common knowledge that after January 2, 2022, issuing a cheque that is dishonoured for the lack of funds is no longer going to be a criminal offence in the UAE (for a primer on the changes made to the law, clickHere). But what of ongoing complaints and criminal cases regarding cheques that were dishonoured prior to January 2? Circular No. (9) of 2021, issued by the Dubai Public Prosecution Department on 19 December 2021, helpfully clarifies how such cases are to be handled ...
Any person will be given the right to demand information from enterprises affected by the Transparency Act It follows from the Transparency Act, Section 6, first paragraph, that any person has the right to information from an enterprise regarding how the enterprise addresses actual and potential adverse impacts according to the Section 4 of the Act ...
The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) will have significant impacts on brand owners and might offer new tools and procedures for challenging blocking trademarks and problematic registrations for those willing to take advantage of the new law. The TMA was passed by Congress in December 2020 before the USPTO announced the final Rules for implementation on November 17, 2021 ...
There was a fascinating article on the late Wally Olins (brand guru and co-founder of the firm Wolff Olins) in The Economist recently. The piece brings home just how much Olins’s thinking has shaped trade mark law and practice over recent years. Here are just a few examples: ‘G.K. Chesterton got it half right: when people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing. They believe in brands ...
Article 219 of the Loi sur la protection du consommateur (Consumer Protection Act -hereinafter: “LPC”) states that no merchant may, by any means whatsoever, make a false or misleading representation to a consumer. Article 238 states that no merchant may falsely declare that they possess a status or identity ...
