The Court of Appeal has held that the fall in property prices in the recession was “reasonably foreseeable” so a farmer can seek damages of up to £398,000 from engineering consultants who delayed work on a development by 15 months. The case involved a farmer who obtained planning permission to build houses on a field
Two directors have been found guilty of contempt of court after disposing of their company’s goodwill assets in breach of a freezing order. The two directors were involved in a family based agency which sold mechanical breakdown insurance policies. An insurance company became unhappy with the way the directors ran the agency and blamed them
The European Union has agreed a one-stop patent system that will make it cheaper and easier for businesses to protect their ideas and designs. At present, applications to the European Patent Office have to be validated in individual member countries creating extra expense in translations and administration. Under the new system, only one application is
The Government has announced new proposals to make it easier for consumers and small firms to take action against unfair business practices. The new measures were announced by the Competition Minister Jo Swinson who said: “Actions like price-fixing or imposing unfair trading terms can really harm businesses, particularly small businesses, and restrict their ability to
An estate agents firm has been fined nearly £12,000 for failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) took action against the Leicester-based IPS Estate Agents Ltd after it breached a number of the requirements of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007. The OFT said the failings related to verifying the
The court heard that Utopia Tableware Ltd had registered and unregistered design rights over its Aspen range of glasses, which were characterised by being tall and having a narrow waist towards the centre. The glasses were used by some major brewing companies. Utopia objected when another manufacturer started producing glasses which were very similar in
A model agency has won its case against a former employee who defrauded it of £21,000 and disclosed some of its confidential information while helping to set up a rival business. The employee had worked for the agency as a booker responsible for hiring models. His contract of employment restrained him from engaging in competition
Businesses will soon be able to use a new 90-day premium service when applying for patents. There will also be a faster trademarks service which will provide a full examination report in five days instead of the current 10 days. The changes, which will be introduced by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), were announced in
When drawing up contracts of sale across different countries it is essential to specify in advance the currency and exchange rate to be used. Confusion over these issues can prove costly, as one firm discovered in a recent case before the Court of Appeal. The case involved the sale of various goods together with industrial
A director has been ordered to pay compensation to his former company after breaching his legal duties. The director, who had been chairman of a credit union business, breached his fiduciary duty when using a loan from the company to purchase a property. The problem arose because he had a separate business interest with a