A company that sued a trade rival for slander and malicious falsehood, claiming that an over-enthusiastic salesman had disparaged its business model to a potential customer, has had its case struck out on the basis that pursuing the matter to…
In an important ruling for employers and the insurance industry, a sole director and shareholder who sued his own company after his finger was sliced off in a workplace accident has had his compensation hopes dashed. The Court of Appeal…
If a member of staff uses your computer system to exchange emails, does the content of the email become the property of your business? This question was addressed recently in a court case concerning a dispute that arose between a…
A High Court case underlines the importance of careful wording when drafting restrictive covenants, as well as the need for regular review of contractual restrictions to ensure they reflect the current position. The court held that an employee was entitled…
The Information Commissioner’s Office has fined Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd £250,000 for a serious breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. In April 2011, the Sony Playstation Network Platform was hacked and the attacker was able to access the…
Franchisors will welcome a High Court decision that applied established employment law principles on restrictive covenants to a business to business relationship. The court enforced an ambiguously drafted restrictive covenant against an ex-franchisee and also dismissed an argument that a…
A ‘worker’ who acts as a ‘whistleblower’ – disclosing breaches of the law – receives statutory protection under the law if he or she suffers detrimental treatment as a result of having made the disclosure to the appropriate authorities. Recently,…
Readers are reminded that on 1 October 2012, changes to the Money Laundering Regulations came into force that will affect many businesses, particularly those that engage in high-value transactions or that offer services involving the exchange of money. Broadly, the…
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published a report summarising the concerns reported to it by members of the public about UK website providers' use of cookies. Between May and November 2012, the ICO received 550 reports via its cookie…
When considering a trade mark, it is the mark as a whole which needs to be looked at. The obviousness of this point was illustrated by a recent case in the General Court of the European Union. The Court had…
