Benefits and costs of co-operating under the European Commission’s Leniency Notice

Companies that have been involved in an illegal cartel affecting trade in the EU may significantly reduce their exposure to sanctions if they decide to co-operate with the European Commission (the Commission) under its Leniency Notice.1 The first company to co-operate and to satisfy the formal requirements is granted total immunity from fines, while companies that co-operate subsequently may be granted a reduction in the amount of the fine, up to 50%. Given these potential benefits, the leniency program is a powerful tool in encouraging companies to provide the Commission with insider information on cartels. 
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Climate change: 
the top five trends 
to watch

While countries are struggling to reach an agreement on appropriate emissions reduction targets, from a corporate risk and compliance perspective the issues businesses face related to climate change are substantial. The impacts of increased sea levels, extreme weather events like heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts and wildfires reach companies in all corners of the world, impacting supply chains, disrupting commodity prices and creating exposure to both costly regulatory changes and political risk. Governments all over the globe are grappling with climate change issues differently and there are layers of regional and international actions being taken. 
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the top five trends 
to watch”

New security for sub-licensees?


The conventional view in the UK has been that a sub-licensee has no greater rights than their sub-licensor and so a 
sub-licence ends when the sub-licensor’s rights terminate, in accordance with the principle of nemo dat quod non habet (no one gives what he doesn’t have).

This was questioned by the recent case of VLM Holdings Ltd v Ravensworth Digital Services Ltd [2013], when the UK court decided that a sub-licence for the use of software survived the termination of the head licence under which it had been granted. 
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”

Intellectual property and Scotland’s constitutional future

Intellectual property (IP) is of huge and ever-increasing value to all businesses. It is often the most valuable asset that a company owns. By way of example, in 2010, patents held by US companies were estimated to be worth $2 trillion. Recently, Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States, said that 75% of the value of companies is in their intangible assets, an increase of some 40% on the 1980s. 
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Supreme Court provides guidance 
on forum conveniens and piercing the corporate veil


This article considers the Supreme Court decision in VTB Capital plc v Nutritek International Corp & ors [2013]. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the case is that it casts doubt on the notion that the Court has the power to pierce the corporate veil. The Supreme Court also held that, even if the power to pierce the corporate veil does exist, it does not enable a claimant to hold parties that control a company jointly and severally liable under contracts entered into by that company. 
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on forum conveniens and piercing the corporate veil
”

The allure of ‘cool’ brands: reflections on branding in the 
fashion industry

It’s six in the morning and the Mysore ‘self practice’ yoga class at Triyoga in London’s fashionable King’s Road is filling up. I am already in place, concentrating on my sun salutations. Well, that’s what I should be concentrating on. In fact, I’m concentrating on the fact that nearly everyone entering the room is wearing more or less the same yoga gear. The styles vary, but they are distinctive, some with a colourful waistband, all with a discrete ‘A’ logo at the back. This is Lululemon. Continue reading “The allure of ‘cool’ brands: reflections on branding in the 
fashion industry”

Inroads into party autonomy: arbitration clauses in agreements with telecom service providers

Arbitration, because of its nearly unfettered right of party autonomy, has become the agreed mode of dispute resolution between parties involved in commercial transactions. In India, arbitration laws underwent a marked change with the enactment of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (the 1996 Act) that strove to bring speed, efficacy, informality and party autonomy into dispute resolution by way of arbitration.
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Government immigration announcements 
not as they appear?

Last week, the government excitedly announced that ‘net migration had fallen by 36% in the year up to June 2012’.

The claim was repeated on the BBC’s Question Time by Claire Perry MP, on the day of the Eastleigh by-election, in what was clearly a stage-managed announcement to try to snatch some last-minute votes from Nigel Farage’s UKIP – who advocate a withdrawal from the EU. 
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not as they appear?”

Scotland’s constitutional future: a taxing question

The referendum on Scottish independence, to be held by the end of 2014, naturally raises questions about 
how the Scottish tax system might develop if Scotland becomes an independent country. There is also an expectation 
that even in the event of a ‘no’ vote, more taxes will be devolved to Scotland, with all the unionist political parties expressing support for the idea of Holyrood attaining more powers.
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