Recent changes to insolvency law have had a major impact on supply chain contracts across the industry. John Warchus, takes a closer look at the practical steps firms can take to ensure their contracts are best protected. To enable businesses to continue trading in these uncertain times, the government has introduced several measures to help […]
As we all navigate the uncharted territory of the coronavirus, in the world of contracts the force majeure clause has come to the fore. You’d be forgiven for assuming a global pandemic counts as a force majeure, but this isn’t necessarily the case: not a single reported case law or English law authority exists on […]
The UK technology sector received an estimated £30 billion in investment between 2017 and 2019 – more than in France and Germany combined over the same period – and now the boost of a Brexit trade deal with the EU should encourage further investment into the sector here in the UK. Some of the UK-EU […]
2 Entertain Video Ltd v Sony DADC Europe Ltd [2020] BackgroundIn Covid-19 times, a recent decision from the Technology and Construction Court relating to the 2011 London riots is a useful reminder of the restrictive way in which force majeure and limitation clauses are interpreted by the courts and needs to be noted by all suppliers of goods […]
Given the recent (and ongoing) business upheaval caused by COVID-19, many businesses can be forgiven for failing to focus on the fact that Brexit finally took place with the UK “leaving” the EU on 31 January 2020 with the practical “Exit Day” to occur on 31 December 2020, after the transition period. In order to […]
As a result of the Corporate Insolvency Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) coming into force at the end of June, existing protection for customers in relation to the supply of goods and services has been greatly extended and now means that suppliers will not be able to terminate supply contracts or impose other conditions during after […]
The massive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many more people working from home resulting in the number of face-to-face business meetings to drop to virtually zero. This has led to an explosion in the use of video conferencing technology. Whilst the benefits of these technologies are immense, they are not without […]
Technology has always played a vital role in the agricultural sector and it should be no surprise that Smart Farming is due to increase significantly in the coming years given the needs of a rapidly growing global population, the requirement for increased yields and global warming threats. What is smart farming? A group of technologies […]
As the business upheaval of Coronavirus increases day by day, we have been approached for advice by a growing number of clients and contacts as to whether they (or another party) have legal grounds to end or suspend a contract in a bid to reduce expenditure. Accordingly, we hope that the following pointers will be […]
Can I (or the other party) get out of an onerous contract because of coronavirus?
As coronavirus quickly develops from a local to a global threat, there are also increasing commercial concerns in relation to the ability of parties to perform contracts. In particular, the coronavirus outbreak is an illustration of the legal principles of force majeure and frustration which can, in the correct circumstances, excuse a party’s non-performance and/or […]
From 6 April 2020, new IR35 rules come into force which mean that medium and large private sector companies in the IT and Tech sector generally will now have to assess whether a person supplied to it by an agency is a disguised employee or a true consultant and notify agencies and the worker. Getting […]
Bentley 1962 Limited and another v Bentley Motors Limited The High Court has recently handed down a decision in a long-running trade mark dispute between commercial organisations of very different sizes and reputations. The Court has held in favour of a small clothing company (Bentley 1962 Limited) and found that its word mark Bentley registered […]
Rudd v Bridle Following the arrival of GDPR there has been a notable increase in the number of subject access requests (SARs) whereby individuals have made formal requests to receive details of the personal data held on them by a business. As these requests can be time-consuming and expensive to deal with, it is no […]
Whatever your views on Brexit, the ongoing saga is recognised in many quarters as being bad for UK Plc due to great uncertainty as to whether Brexit will actually take place, and if so, on what terms the UK will leave the EU.
The Court of Appeal recently upheld a decision of the High Court that found Morrisons Supermarkets vicariously liable for the malicious and criminal actions of a rogue employee who intentionally damaged Morrison’s reputation by misusing the personal data of almost 100,000 Morrison employees.
A recent case ‘Goodlife Foods Ltd v Hall Fire Protection Ltd’ has once again shown that the courts often place considerable importance on the availability of insurance in interpreting the validity (or not) of an exclusion of liability clause in a commercial contract.
The recent introduction into UK law of the more stringent General Data Protection Regulation rules (GDPR) has certainly raised awareness of data protection and security. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has just announced a record fine in relation to a very serious breach that took place in 2017, which meant that the fine was imposed […]
Goodlife Foods Limited v Hall Fire Protection Limited This decision has once again shown that the courts often place considerable importance on the availability of insurance in interpreting the validity (or not) of an exclusion of liability clause in a commercial contract. It also shows the courts being generally supportive of businesses limiting liability through […]
Under the GDPR, consent needs to be “…freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous…” In other words, consent will only be validly given where there is a clear statement or conduct by an individual which indicates his/her acceptance of the proposed processing. Accordingly, the following will no longer be satisfactory evidence of consent:
Databases can be protected by database right and/or copyright. A recent spat between the supplier of an internet-based electrocardiogram (ECG) reporting system known as the “ECG Cloud” has led to the conclusion that a simple PDF document relating to the ECG Cloud was protected by both database right and copyright.
On 25 May 2018, the largest ever overhaul of data protection laws in the EU will take effect. Businesses must comply with the changes or face fines of €20m or 4% of worldwide annual turnover. Despite this, many organisations have not yet started preparing for the changes.