This is largely a codification of duties which already existed under previous legislation or the common law. However, the Act does introduce some new duties. With effect from 1 October 2008, every director of a company now has a statutory duty to avoid a situation in which he has, or can have, a direct or indirect interest that conflicts, or possibly may conflict, with the interests of the company (a ‘situational conflict') ...
Solicitor and commercial specialist Ross Woodham takes a technical and commercial look at Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), as it grows in popularity. VoIP has existed since the early 1980’s, but was only given serious commercial attention in the late 1990’s, since when the use of VoIP-based technology has grown steadily ...
Bank Indonesia issued Regulation No. 10/7/PBI/2008 on 19 February 2008 regarding Offshore Loans of Non-bank Companies. Offshore loans are one of the key factors which may have positive and negative impacts on balance of payments, monetary stabilization and development continuity ...
After lengthy discussion, the Indonesian House of Representatives finally passed the Bill on Limited Liability Companies into law on the 23rd of July 2007 and it was then signed by the President on the 16th of August 2007 and enacted as Law No 40 of 2007 regarding Limited Liability Companies ("Law 40"). Law 40 revokes the previous limited liability companies law, ie Law No. 1 of 1995 regarding Limited Liability Companies ("Law 1") ...
Since 26 April 2007, Indonesia has had a new Investment Law, namely Law No. 25 of 2007 regarding Investment (“New Investment Law”). The New Investment Law replaces two old laws; ie Law No. 1 of 1967 regarding Foreign Investment, and Law No 6 of 1968 regarding Domestic Investment, both as amended. The New Investment Law accommodates both foreign and domestic investment ...
The Government of the Republic of Indonesia ("GOI") understands that Indonesia is becoming part of the globalization of information. Consequently many new forms of legal actions which were not covered by current Indonesian laws and regulations now have to be regulated. On 21 April 2008, after being approved by the House of Representatives, the GOI enacted Law No 11 of 2008 regarding Information and Electronic Transactions ("Law No 11 of 2008") ...
To protect consumers of oil and gas products, on 13 June 2008, the Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources issued Regulation No. 19 of 2008 regarding Guidelines and Procedures for the Protection of Consumers for Downstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (the "Regulation") ...
Latest Developments Although we have not witnessed any major legislative or policy changes during the last year, these seem to be forthcoming in 2009 as the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) developed draft amendment to the Competition Act 2001 introducing fundamental changes into national merger control regime ...
By decision rendered June 25, 2008, in K. B. & UAB Restoranu Grupe FORTAS v. AB Ragutis (Case No 3K-3-160/2008), the Supreme Court of Lithuania ruled that a component of a trademark that infringes an author’s copyright may not be disclaimed in the trademark registration.The plaintiffs, K. B. and UAB Restoranu Grupe FORTAS, sued one of the oldest breweries in Lithuania, AB Ragutis, for copyright infringement ...
On June 17, 2008, the Supreme Court of Lithuania rendered a decision restricting the rights of the trademark owner to revoke his consent to use a trademark as a company name. In UAB Solvex Baltic v. UAB Scandihouse (Case No 3K-3-335/2008 (S)), the owner of the trademark SCANDIHOUSE petitioned the defendant to change its company name ...
Debate is raging at the moment as to the economic and political wisdom of imposing a so-called windfall tax on the profits of the UK's energy companies. Politicians, business people and consumer groups have all offered their views on what has been described as a "legalised raid" on the energy companies. But are the proposals "legal" at all? In that context it is important to consider where the profits in question are likely to have arisen ...
Summary The Court of Appeal held that administrators were personally liable in costs for litigation in circumstances where a creditor challenged whether the purpose of administration could be achieved. The case highlights a number of important points for administrators and in particular the high standards expected of them following an appointment. Facts Joint administrators were appointed to Ulva Limited ("Ulva") by the sole director on 14 August 2007 ...
The Court of Appeal (CA) judgment in Symbian Limited v Comptroller General of Patents (2008) EWCA Civ 1066 was issued on 8 October. This has upheld a High Court decision to overrule the UK Intellectual Property Office's (UK-IPO) rejection of a computer program on a conventional computer as non-patentable ...
The UK Green Building Council has announced a new industry wide consultation to explore what kind of Code for Sustainable Buildings the industry needs to help it achieve the zero carbon target of 2019 and other sustainability challenges ...
Act No. 125/2008, Coll., on Transformations of Commercial Companies and Cooperatives, taking effect 1 July 2008, supersedes the existing regulation of intra-state transformations in the Commercial Code and newly regulates certain transformations with foreign elements, i.e. cross border mergers and transfer of assets to a foreign participant ...
As Petroleum Commissioner for Namibia, Dr Leon Moller had first-hand experience of negotiating with international oil companies in Africa. Now a solicitor in Aberdeen, with leading UK law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn, he outlines the challenges and potential pitfalls facing firms hoping to exploit the continent's vast resources ...
On 22 May 2008, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Dŵr Cymru's appeal against part of the CAT's judgement in the long running Albion Water case [FOOTNOTE: Dŵr Cymru Cyfyngedig v Albion Water Limited [2008] EWCA Civ 536 and [2006] CAT 23 and [2006] CAT 36]. The main subject of that appeal was the correct interpretation of the law on the abuse of margin squeeze ...
A new Swedish Competition Act will enter into force on 1 November 2008. The Act was passed by parliament on 11 June 2008. The new legislation means further harmonisation with EC competition rules and it also introduces a number of new features in order to enhance cartel enforcement. One of the new features is the introduction of trading prohibitions. The rules regarding fines will become both clearer and stricter in an aim to enhance legal certainty ...
On May 28, 2008, the Quebec Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife, Claude Béchard, presented the first Government strategy for the lumber use in construction. Entitled “Agir aujourd’hui pour demain” (Acting today for tomorrow). This initiative has the goal of a threefold increase by 2014 in the use of wood products in the non-residential sector and in construction of multi-family dwellings, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 600,000 tonnes ...
On March 14, 2008, Luc Bertrand, the Chairman of the Board of the Montreal Climate Exchange, announced that the Exchange filed an application with the Autorité des marchés financiers requesting approval of the trading of environmental products on its electronic trading platform ...
Province of British Columbia Bars Exploration and Development of Uranium ResourcesOn April 24, 2008, the Province of British Columbia announced that it will not support the exploration and development of uranium in British Columbia and is establishing a "no registration reserve" under the Mineral Tenure Act for uranium and thorium. The "no registration reserve" will ensure any future claims do not include the rights to uranium ...
Yukon Supreme Court Considers the Duty to Consult on Settled Treaty LandsCanadian case law continues to refine the principles of the duty to consult and accommodate Aboriginal peoples, and the May 2007 decision of the Yukon Supreme Court in Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation v. The Government of Yukon (Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources), 2007 YKSC 28 considers the extent of its application on recently settled treaty lands in the Yukon ...
Until recently there was a significant amount of confusion and uncertainty on whether or not it is trade mark infringement for a search engine to allow certain 'keywords' to be sponsored by a third party who is not the trademark owner. The above scenario was encountered in the recent case of Wilson v Yahoo UK Limited where Mr Wilson was the owner of several Community trade marks under the name 'Mr Spicy' ...
The Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 has placed the National Planning Framework (NPF) – Scotland's national planning strategy - on a statutory footing, to be reviewed every four years. The NPF was published in 2004 to largely widespread approval from industry, political and community figures. The purpose of the NPF was to introduce the Scottish Executive's strategy for the "spatial development of Scotland until 2025" ...
