Member Articles

1. Introduction  On 21st January 2016, the Italian Cabinet gave the green light for the “Reorganization, rationalization and simplification of Port Authorities” decree (the “Ports Decree”), which reviews a system which has been in place for over 20 years. The Ports Decree is part of the re-launch of ports and logistics in Italy promoted by the Ministry for Infrastructure and Transport (“MIT”) ...

The Philippine section of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Trade Marks 2015 was contributed by SyCipLaw partners Enrique T. Manuel and Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan. Mr. Manuel heads the firm’s Intellectual Property department ...

Lavery is closely monitoring developments in consumer class actions and, in order to keep the business sector informed on the subject, publishes regular newsletters on recent case law and legislative changes that are likely to affect, if not transform, business practices. INTRODUCTION In Fortin v. Mazda Canada Inc ...

The Philippine section of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Copyright 2016 was contributed by SyCipLaw partners Enrique T. Manuel and Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan. Mr. Manuel heads the firm’s Intellectual Property department. The chapter includes information on copyright subsistence, ownership, exploitation, owners’ rights, copyright enforcement, criminal offenses, and current developments. 1 ...

Under Minister of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia Regulation No. PM 3 of 2015 dated 7 January 2015 on the Implementation of One-Stop Integrated Services in the field of Transportation at the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) (“Regulation 3/2015”), the Minister of Transportation has now delegated its authority to issue transportation business licenses for capital investment to the Head of BKPM. The Business Licenses which have been delegated are: 1 ...

In Esso Australia Pty Ltd v The Australian Workers' Union [2015] FCA 758, the Federal Court upheld the validity of some, but not all, orders made by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) against industrial action at Esso's Longford Plant in Victoria ...

After eight years of operation, the International Registry established pursuant to the Cape Town Convention and the Aircraft Protocol (in force in Quebec since April 1, 2013) has undergone a significant update. The Registry’s website has undergone a complete overhaul in two phases, the first of which was launched in September 2013 ...

The Seventh Circuit has revived a class action against Neiman Marcus for losses customers allegedly suffered as a result of a data breach involving payment card information. A federal district court had dismissed the claims, finding – consistent with federal courts around the country – that the plaintiffs lacked standing because they failed to allege they suffered concrete harm from the breach ...

It’s been widely reported that various luxury brand owners have brought legal proceedings in the USA against Alibaba, the Chinese online shopping giant that recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The claim is that Alibaba has knowingly made it possible for companies to sell counterfeit products on its platform ...

Despite the apparent opening of the door for foreigners to engage directly in retail trading in Myanmar under the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) Notification No 49 of 2014, in practice this door was still closed to foreigners in the new car sales sector.  With limited exceptions (discussed below), foreigners could not, even on the basis of Notification 49: (i) import new cars (ii) register new cars in their name (iii) sell those cars or (iv) own and operate a new car showroom ...

Is your business affected by counterfeiting? If so, you are not alone. A newly released study shows that almost all intellectual property dependent companies listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm 30 Index have been affected. Moreover, most expect that the problem will continue to grow. Better political support is required to stem this development, but companies already have several weapons available to use against the counterfeiters ...

There have been recent interesting developments in Latin American aviation. Set forth below is a discussion of some of them. Topics include: General Outlook Key Mexican Reforms U.S. and European Expansion Mexico: Dynamic Aviation Sector The Venezuela Crisis Excerpted from Latinvex. To read the full article, click here ...

The Court of Appeal of Quebec has issued an important judgment pertaining to a franchisor’s implicit obligations towards its franchisees. In June 2012, the Superior Court of Quebec ordered Dunkin’ Donuts Brands Canada Ltd. (“Dunkin’ Donuts”) to pay an amount of $16.4M (plus interests and costs) to 21 of its franchisees in Quebec the sum of $16 ...

Registration of an aircraft: Civil aircraft are registered in the Civil Aircraft Register maintained by the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine (SAAU). Application for an aircraft's registration may be submitted by the owner of an aircraft or a person authorised by the owner. Record of person's ownership in the Civil Aircraft Register does not evidence title to an aircraft. Information recorded in the Civil Aircraft Register is published on the SAAU's website ...

In the recent judgment of “The Owners of the mv “Silver Star” v Hilane Limited”*, several important principles were established, namely: Full effect must be given to the right to proceed against an associated ship of a charterer in respect of a maritime claim that arises in the course of the Charter ...

In a recent judgment on the merits, the president of the Brussels Commercial Court held that the X shape of Mars's Dentastix dog food (see Figure 1 below) constituted a valid three-dimensional (3D) Community trademark and a valid Benelux design. Both IP rights had been invoked cumulatively against a Belgian company commercialising similar X-shaped chew sticks for dogs (Figure 2) on the European market. View More