Insights & News

Brinsley Dresden writes for Campaign: Iceland's difficulty with 'Rang-tan' film highlights Clearcast's unusual status

In an article for Campaign Live, Brinsley Dresden comments on the decision to stop the running of Iceland's Christmas ad highlighting the threat of palm oil cultivation on the advice of Clearcast, the broadcast advertising clearance body, which expressed worries that Greenpeace's involvement contravened BCAP rules against advertising with political objectives.

Sports Q&A - Are the new guidelines on influencer marketing relevant to Sport?

The requirement for influencers to use #Ad to ensure their promotion of brand partners on social media are clearly identified as advertising is not new. However recent guidelines issued jointly by the relevant regulators is a sharp reminder that they’re taking this seriously.

Dispute Resolution Update - October 2018

Welcome to our October 2018 Dispute Resolution Update which brings you news and our views on law and practice for dispute resolution. We’ve included articles on domestic disputes and international disputes, including summaries of recent cases. We have also included client guides on key aspects of dispute resolution.

Legal Professional Privilege Update

This guide is intended to provide a brief overview of legal professional privilege, updated following the Appeal Court’s judgment in SFO V ENRC. It identifies some practical steps which will help to maintain privilege and concludes with a privilege “flowchart” and table of commonly used terms.

Don't be caught out by the new data protection fee!

The ICO has recently announced that it is actively taking enforcement action against organisations for failing to pay the new data protection fee. This article intends to provide a quick recap of the fee to help ensure your organisation does not get caught out!

Alex Kelham comments for City A.M: 'Why has Colin Kaepernick filed a trade mark of his image?'

In an article for City A.M, Alex Kelham comments on former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick seeking to protect his assets by filing a trade mark in the US and discusses athletes' efforts to protect their personal brands.

Professional Representation before the EUIPO in a Post-Brexit World

Whilst the status of, and procedures affecting, EUTMs and other EU IP rights in a post-Brexit world are a concern for brand-owners, UK trade mark professionals face an additional headache in that there is a significant risk that their ability to represent clients before the EUIPO may shortly be lost. This is an important issue, as acting on matters before the EUIPO will account for over half of trade mark and design related revenue for many firms.

Budget 2018. What a wonderful surprise! No really, you shouldn’t have!

It was my birthday recently, so I was delighted when the Chancellor told me he had got me a present. A Budget! It was a little late, distinctly homemade, and wrapped in a spreadsheet (natch) - but I was fascinated to find out what was inside. In other words, here is a selection of key tax changes for business that were announced in the Budget.

Unexplained Wealth Orders

The English courts have handed down their first judgment concerning Unexplained Wealth Orders. As a result of the judgment the wife of a foreign ex-banker faces losing UK property worth millions of pounds unless she can explain the source of her wealth. Set out below is an introduction to Unexplained Wealth Orders, how such orders can be resisted and the recent judgment handed down by the High Court. We also identify some key issues concerning Unexplained Wealth Orders which remain unresolved.

Disclosure Pilot Scheme to start in January 2019

Inbrief

The Civil Procedure Rule Committee has approved the new Practice Direction which sets down rules for a mandatory disclosure pilot scheme. It will run for two years in the Business and Property Courts in England and Wales, starting on 1 January 2019.

The regulator and the right of reply: two recent cases involving the Financial Reporting Council

Case Study

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the regulator for UK statutory audits. Its responsibilities include setting audit standards, as well as enforcing the quality of audit. It is the investigative and disciplinary body for UK accountants dealing with cases affecting the public interest. FRC investigations naturally focus on those under its jurisdiction, such as its member accountancy firms and individual auditors. Sometimes, however, the conduct of the audited company and its managers will also be relevant. Two recent cases have discussed the duties owed by the FRC to these entities. The cases will be relevant to other regulators.

Corporate Governance and Insolvency reforms

The UK Government is implementing measures to strengthen corporate governance and insolvency laws. The aim is to increase accountability, improve creditor protection and promote company rescue. This note comments on a selection of the proposals which were published at the end of the summer.

Lewis Silkin French Desk advises long term client Sopra Steria (Euronext Paris) on the acquisition of lending solutions provider Sword Apak

Deal

The Lewis Silkin French Desk has advised its long term client Sopra Steria on its acquisition, through its subsidiary Sopra Banking Software, of lending solutions software provider Sword Apak, a subsidiary of Sword Group.