In Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Entertainment Software Association1 (the ?SOCAN Decision?), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on the obligation to pay a royalty for making a work available to the public on a server, where it can later be streamed or downloaded ...
On 17 November 2022, the State Administration Council (“SAC”) enacted the Law Amending the 2022 Union Tax Law (“2022 UTL Amendment”). This law provides tax exemptions for Battery Electric Vehicles (“BEVs”) and increases the corporate income tax rate of companies engaged in the oil and gas exploration and production sector in Myanmar. We highlight below the major changes under this law: 1 ...
Following the 2018 enactment of regulations governing contractual terms contained in vehicle hire-purchase agreements, the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (“OCPB”) has recently resolved to adjust such regulatory scheme as part of their initiatives to alleviate the ongoing economic downturn and financial hardships suffered by consumers as a result of the pandemic, and to prevent consumers being subject to any unfair contractual terms in this respect ...
While originally opened to great fanfare between 2017 and 2019, over the course of 2022 Shell has discreetly closed down all of its UK hydrogen filling stations, citing that "the prototype technology had reached the end of its life". This decision is perhaps not surprising, given the low volume of domestic fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) on UK roads ...
In the BlackFriday event, from November 25th to 28th 2022, will be fully in force the reforms to Law No. 19,496 on Consumer Rights Protection in the field of e-commerce, introduced mainly by the "Pro-Consumer" Law and the Electronic Commerce Regulation. The following are the main aspects and obligations to be taken into consideration for the event: Promotions, offers, contests and sweepstakes must disclose the terms and conditions governing them and their term of duration ...
Shoosmiths’ head of energy and infrastructure (E&I) sector, James Wood-Robertson, details and reacts to the much-anticipated E&I developments and proposals set out in the UK government’s 2022 Autumn Statement ...
November 16, 2022 By: William Miller, Anne Marie Ellis, and David DeBerry On August 1, 2022, the California Court of Appeals issued the decision in Martinez v. Cot’n Wash, Inc. (2022) 81 Cal.App.5th 1026 [297 Cal.Rptr.3d 712]. In Martinez, the plaintiff claimed that Cot’n Wash’s website (dropps.com) was inaccessible because it did not comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 ...
Tackling rising prices within the parameters of public procurement. One of the main symptoms of the current economic crisis is rising prices, for individuals and businesses. Brexit and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are just two contributory factors in fuelling increases in prices across the supply chain in the UK, particularly the cost of raw materials, labour and transport ...
With the government’s widely publicised plan to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by the end of the decade comes a secondary issue – the need for an extensive electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to support an exponential increase in the number of EV cars on the road. Rollout of EV chargepoints is significantly behind what is needed to meet the predicted demand from 2030 ...
That’s the question Shoosmiths and Cornwall Insight’s recent report sought to answer, investigating the role the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model could play as part of the UK’s electric vehicle charging network. In a new video, Jonathan Smart, partner and head of mobility at Shoosmiths, discusses the BaaS model, which enables electric vehicle owners and business fleets to swap out depleted batteries for fully charged ones at a service station via a subscription service ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, On 23 August 2022, the Malaysia Competition Commission (“MyCC”) launched a public consultation on the proposed renewal of a Block Exemption Order (“BEO”) in respect of liner shipping services covered under a VSA. The renewal application was made pursuant to Section 8 of the Competition Act as the earlier BEO granted expired on 6 July 2022. The press release by MyCC (“Press Release”) is accessible here ...
As we discussed in a prior update, on July 13, 2022, Plaintiff Christian Buckner filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court in Tampa, Florida, seeking to enjoin the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s set-aside of 10% (around $37 billion) of transportation funding for “small business concerns” owned and controlled by “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals ...
A recent case provides a new approach to analysis of the enforceability of co-tenancy clauses in shopping center leases. In JJD-HOV Elk Grove, LLC v. Jo-Ann Stores, LLC (June 28, 2022, No. C094190) __ Cal.Rptr.3d __ [2022 WL 2313437] ("JJD"), the Third District Court of Appeal declined to apply penalty analysis under Civil Code §1671 to a co-tenancy clause, as the Fifth District had done in Grand Prospect Partners, L.P. v. Ross Dress for Less, Inc. (2015) 232 Cal.App ...
Even though Belgium is lagging behind when it comes to enacting specific legislation, companies doing business in Belgium should be aware of the risk of being held accountable for human rights violations or environmental pollution up or down their value chain. Human rights violations are a ‘hot’ topic and businesses are confronted with ethical challenges in this respect ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on reducing scope 3 Purchased Goods & Services and Capital Goods emissions. Shoosmiths is delighted to be sponsoring United Nation Global Compact Network (UNGC) UK’s series of webinars on ‘Reducing Scope 3 Emissions’ ...
In an effort to counteract the economic damage wrought by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November of 2021. Part of that bill set aside $370 billion to improve and expand transportation, and further earmarked 10% of those funds for socially and economically disadvantaged government contractors ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) is once again recognized by Managing IP’s IP STARS 2022 as a Tier 1 firm for its Patent practice. Earlier this year, SyCipLaw was also cited as a Tier 1 firm for its Trade mark work. In addition, the firm’s IP practitioners once again received outstanding rankings this year: Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan, Partner and Head of IP Department (IPD), Trade Mark StarEnrique T ...
On 28 May 2022, the Belgian law transposing EU Directive 2019/2161 into the Code of Economic Law (CEL) entered into force (the “Omnibus Act”). The Omnibus Act aims to modernise consumer protection given the increasing development of e-commerce. In addition to new transparency obligations for online marketplaces, the Omnibus Act has new general information obligations, and new unfair commercial practices and obligations for price reduction announcements that apply to all retailers ...
1. Introduction After a long consultation period, the European Commission recently published the new Block Exemption Regulation for Vertical Agreements (Regulation (EU) 2022/720 "VBER"). The regulation will enter into force on 1 June 2022. New Guidelines on vertical restraints ("Guidelines") will accompany the new VBER. Both replace the previous set of rules from 2010 ...
A key feature of Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (“UCITS” fund) is the Key Investor Information Document (“KIID”), which provides the retail investor with simplified information from the prospectus. UCITS also qualify as Packaged Retail Investment and Insurance Products (“PRIIPS”) ...
One of the objectives of Product Oversight and Governance requirements is for manufacturers and distributors of an insurance or investment product to take into consideration the interests of customers when designing and /or distributing the relevant product ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, In November 2020, Korean Air Lines Co Ltd had entered into a share subscription agreement with Asiana Airlines Inc which had been in a situation of financial distress. The merger of the two airlines required regulatory approval from competition and antitrust agencies of other jurisdictions, which included but were not limited to, Korea, UK, US, EU, Malaysia and Singapore ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) has received Tier 1 rankings in “Patents” and “Copyrights/Trademarks” categories in the Philippines on Thomson Reuters’ Asian Legal Business (ALB) IP Rankings for 2022. ALB is a publication that provides insights on legal professionals throughout Asia and identifies and ranks top firms for intellectual property practice in Asia ...
The Belgian Data Protection Authority (“DPA”) has fined Brussels Airport and Brussels South Charleroi Airport 200,000 and 100,000 EUR respectively for their use of thermal cameras during the Covid-19 pandemic. In two extensive decisions (Brussels decisionandCharleroi decision), the DPA has fined the two airports for their use ofthermal cameras ...