Legal News & Expert Insights

New Regulations (‘the new Regulations’), which came into force on 1 October 2023, ban businesses from supplying to the public a wide range of single-use plastic items such as plates, bowls, cutlery, trays, polystyrene cups and food containers. It is estimated that, every year, England uses over two and a half billion items of single-use […]

An Order for Specific Performance is a remedy which may be granted by a court when resolving a contract dispute. The intent behind the granting of Specific Performance is to compel the defaulting party to perform the positive contractual obligations that were promised as part of the contract. Such an Order is discretionary in nature, […]

Evergreening describes the periodic re-filing by a company of trade marks that are identical to previous registered marks prior to the expiration of the five year grace-period allowed following original registration and before actual use. If the mark is not re-registered it is at risk of a cancellation action for non-use. Opposing such a non-use […]

It is essential that brand owners are able to protect trademark rights and brand reputation when conducting business relying upon them whether at home or internationally. Any application for a trade mark which is similar to one already owned by someone else may well be met by civil proceedings in which a primary argument in […]

A HMRC COP9 letter gives the recipient an opportunity to make a complete disclosure of all the activity, whether deliberate or otherwise, that have led to the suspicion of tax irregularities. HMRC may pursue, at its own discretion, an investigation using Code of Practice 9 (COP9) as an alternative to a criminal prosecution, in circumstances […]

A Personal Guarantee is given by an individual, the Guarantor, for the benefit of a third party, which may be an individual or corporate body, as security to a creditor, such as a bank or supplier of materials, to ensure that in the event of the third party defaulting in payment, the Guarantor becomes responsible […]