Patents reward originality, and inventions that are obvious developments on pre-existing designs do not qualify for protection, however successful they may be. In a ground-breaking case on point, patent protection was denied in respect of
It is a fundamental feature of any free society that justice must be done in public, but how does that principle sit with the right of individuals not to have sensitive details of their private
Breaching a planning enforcement notice is a serious offence and landlords should take careful note of a case in which a property owner was stripped of over £500,000 in rent paid on a house which
There is a powerful public interest in parties to contracts having the freedom to agree how any disputes between them should be resolved. That principle underpinned the Court of Appeal’s ruling that a dispute arising
Proving a case often requires commercially sensitive documents to be placed before a judge in a public court. In the context of a debt recovery action, the Court of Appeal gave guidance on where the
Repairing an asset is one thing, replacing it another, and distinguishing between the two is of critical importance when it comes to calculating Corporation Tax (CT) liabilities. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) gave guidance on where
Employment bonuses are often paid on an open-handed ad hoc basis without regard to formality. As an employment case strikingly showed, however, such arrangements tend to create high expectations which cannot easily be met during
How, if at all, is the duty of local authorities to allow children in their care reasonable contact with their parents affected by social distancing rules arising from the COVID-19 pandemic? The Court of Appeal
Holidaymakers who suffer accidents abroad can face an uphill struggle to obtain just compensation, but specialist English lawyers are happily well equipped to rise to the challenge. In one case, a woman who was injuried
The origins of small sports and social clubs are often shrouded in the mists of time and, if they cease to function, issues can arise as to what should be done with their assets. In
