From caterpillar cakes and “anti-establishment” IPA beer to gin, the issue of “copycat” own brands has been thrown into the spotlight by a series of recent court actions involving some of the country’s best-known food and drink producers and discount supermarket chains ...
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 (the CPA) was enacted almost 35 years ago in order to implement EU law. The act introduced the concept of “strict liability” into the arena of product supply to certain users. This means that consumers who are injured by defective products can sue manufacturers without having to prove negligence. This practical guide provides an overview of the CPA for consumers and manufacturers, with reference to recent key cases ...
A party making a claim bears the burden of proof, meaning that it is responsible for proving its claim. In civil disputes (as opposed to criminal matters) a claim generally must be proven ‘on the balance of probabilities’ if it is to be successful. How is this achieved? The answer is that the claimant must present sufficient evidence to persuade the decision maker that its case is more probable than not ...
The popularity of wild camping following the easing of the first lockdown caused a number of problems for landowners and managers concerned about the impact on the countryside. Now, as we head into a summer of staycations, landowners may wish to familiarise themselves with the public’s right of responsible access afforded by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 ...
On July 1st 2021, the Russian President signed a draft law on amendments to the Russian Civil Code, establishing the possi-bility of creation of a new type of non-commercial organization - a personal foundation- from March 1st 2022.Purposes of using personal foundationsThe personal foundation will become a new asset planning instrument, after the detailed legislation comes into force ...
The Supreme Court, in Minerva Surgical, Inc., v. Hologic, Inc., et al., Case No. 20-440, recently upheld the doctrine of assignor estoppel, but severely limited its reach. The Court limited assignor estoppel to not apply in the cases of a “common employment arrangement” with an employer and employee, when there is a change in law, and when the issued patent has “materially broader” claims than the assigned invention ...
The economic substance requirements in the Cayman Islands, introduced by the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Act (as revised) (the “ES Act”) (Economic substance requirements in the Cayman Islands), have been extended to partnerships pursuant to the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2021, which came into force on 30 June 2021 ...
Over the past ten or so years, imaginative plaintiffs have pressed “climate change cases” in federal and state courts across the United States. In these cases, plaintiffs (most commonly states, municipalities, or environmentalists) sue defendants (often energy companies, states, or municipalities themselves) seeking damages related to climate change. While these cases have proliferated across the country, Florida saw very few in the early going ...
Dinsmore partner Kelvin Lawrence was published in Bloomberg Tax with co-author Bruce P. Ely from Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. Their article, "The MTC Undertakes an Ambitious Study of Partnership Taxation," discusses the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) Uniformity Committee's work group they created to study issues related to multistate taxation of pass-through entities ...
The question whether exclusive jurisdiction of an Arbitration proceeding can be vested on the basis of the Seat of Arbitration irrespective of any cause of action having arisen at the place of the said seat has been debated now for some time before various Courts ...
1. What are the new procedures for availing of tax treaty benefits? The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 14-2021, as amended by Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No ...
Wednesday June 30 2021 is when the Stamp Duty ‘holiday’ in its current form at least will end. The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, introduced the temporary Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in July 2020 to boost the housing market following the first national lockdown. The aim was to save buyers from paying stamp duty on any properties valued at up to £500,000 – a saving worth up to £15,000 ...
On June 17, the Supreme Court rejected another court challenge to the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), holding that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge its minimum essential coverage provisions. For the third time, the Supreme Court upheld the ACA. More than a decade after the ACA was enacted, the long and winding road of ACA challenges may be over and healthcare industry participants may finally be able to rely on the ACA as settled law moving forward ...
According to an anonymous source, a ‘Centre for Economic Situation Administration’ (“CESA”) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was held on Friday 4 June that approved (in-principle) a set of proposed stimulus measures aimed at encouraging wealthy expatriates to Thailand ...
Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., et al, No. 20-440 (S. Ct. June 29, 2021) The Supreme Court issued a decision today upholding the validity of the doctrine of assignor estoppel and clarifying its proper limits. The Court held that the doctrine only applies when “the assignor’s claim of invalidity contradicts explicit or implicit representations he made in assigning the patent ...
With the third wave of COVID-19 in full swing in South Africa, it has never been more important for South African employers to anticipate and prepare for the various COVID-19 related disputes that may lie ahead. It is vital to learn from the challenges already confronted by employers worldwide concerning issues such as vaccination, occupational health and safety, and flexible working arrangements and their approaches to such matters ...
Key Takeaways The Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to take a case regarding Section 101 of the Patent Act as it applies to inventions involving natural laws. The Federal Circuit recently invalidated claims belonging to American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. relating to the manufacture of a prop-shaft using a natural law under Section 101 ...
The term «næringsdrivende» (business activity) in the Norwegian Foundation Act shall be understood as activity with taxable profit («erverv til formål») The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries’ work on amending the Norwegian Foundation Act has been going on for several years, cf. proposals for a new Foundation Act in the NOU 2016: 21. Further law amendment proposals have now been proposed in a public hearing ...
In Competition Commission v W. Hing Construction Co Ltd & Ors [2021] HKCA 877, the Court of Appeal refused to determine whether the standard of proof in competition proceedings for a pecuniary penalty should be lowered from the criminal standard of proof to the civil standard of proof, after concluding that the present case was not an appropriate avenue for such issue to be argued ...
I spent about a third of my 25-year legal career as a federal prosecutor. In that job, I was trained to apply the Principles of Federal Prosecution (PFP), Justice Manual, §9-27.001, et seq., to determine whether and how to charge the white-collar cases I investigated. Sometimes that process was straightforward, but more often the answer was complicated by factors beyond the merits of a particular case ...
Whilst divorce rates for younger couples seems to be on a decline, the rate of later life divorce is on the rise with the divorce rates for those 65 years and older having tripled since 1990. There are various reasons for later life divorces such as growing apart, children having left home, retirement or age-related illnesses, but a common factor is because they do not want to start the last chapter of their life unhappy ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, In this article, our partner, Anand Raj, and associate, Jeevitha Thurai Rathnam, discuss the Malaysia Competition Commission’s market review exercise into the transportation sector (port logistics ecosystem and motor vehicle warranty claims) ...
The IVAucher programme was set up to stimulate private consumption in the sectors worst affected by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (catering, accommodation and culture). With regard to these sectors, “catering” is used in the broad sense to cover restaurants, cafés, bars and catering companies providing food and beverage services, and “accommodation” refers to hotels and other short-stay accommodation for holidays and business travel ...
The Federal Tax Authority (the FTA) has started to impose penalties on businesses that have failed to submit their economic substance notifications by the set deadline of 30 June 2020 for the financial period ended on 31 December 2019, and the economic substance reports by the set deadline of 31 December 2020 for the financial period ended on 31 December 2019 ...
Matter in question Inclusion of royalties in the customs’ value of imported goods, which is one of the most disputable matters of recent years, is receiving new and rapid development in Russia ...
