Bulletins
Bulletins
Taxation on Termination Payments – Summary
Employment Bulletin
New tax rules will apply from 6 April 2018 to termination payments where:
- Employment terminates on or after 6 April 2018; and
- The termination payment is made on or after that date.
The new rules will therefore not apply if employment terminates before 6 April 2018, even if the payment is made on or after that date.
Supermarket Equal Pay Claims and Gender Pay Gap Reporting
Employment Bulletin
With the deadline for gender pay gap reporting fast approaching, Senior Associate Shelley Morgan reflects on the current equal pay litigation being brought in the retail sector and the lessons for employers to take away.
Possible dangers with broad trade mark specifications
IP Update
A brand owner often files its trade mark for a broad range of goods and services in order to assist it in preventing third parties from using its mark (or a similar one) for the relevant goods and services. Often the brand owner will have no intention to use the mark for all of the goods and services protected by the trade mark.
Filing for such broad specifications can cause difficulties and possibly expose the registered trade mark to an invalidity attack (which, if successful, would result in the whole or part of a trade mark specification being removed from the register).
Paul Cox, Partner and Head of our Intellectual Property team looks at how a recent case involving Sky v SkyKick highlights the dangers in filing trade marks with broad specifications. It illustrates that filing an EU trade mark covering the UK is presently a far better way to protect the brand owner from such an invalidity attack as the UK Court and Trade Mark Registry are far more likely to invalidate a UK trade mark if the brand owner has no intention to use the mark for certain goods or services covered by the registration.
Failure To Register a Licence
If a group of companies grant intellectual property licences between themselves, or one independent company licences another independent company to use its intellectual property rights, such rights should be in writing and recorded against the relevant registered right.
Failure to do so can have massive implications when seeking to recover legal costs in infringement actions in the UK. Paul Cox, Partner and head of our intellectual property team, highlights how this was illustrated in the recent case of L'Oreal SA v RN Ventures Limited [2018].
A link to a copy of the original judgment can be found here.
Update on Brexit: More clarity
IP Bulletin
The European Commission has published the Draft Withdrawal Agreement on the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Employment Bulletin - February 2018
Employment Bulletin
Welcome to our February bulletin. This month we take a look at the government's response to the Taylor Review on modern employment practices and how they propose to take this forward. We also take a closer look at the issue of consent in employment contracts in light of the imminent GDPR coming into force. In our regular in brief we also highlight some of the key developments from this month to keep you up to date. Read More...
GDPR: No comfort in blanket consent in employment contract clauses
EMPLOYMENT BULLETIN
With GDPR fast approaching, senior associate Kathryn Evens and associate, Mark Searle look at the issue of relying on consent in employment contracts for the purpose of processing employee data and what employers should be thinking about in preparation for 25 May 2018.
A Good Work Plan? Follow On
EMPLOYMENT BULLETIN
Charlotte Mortlock, senior associate in our employment team looks at the government's response to the Taylor Review on modern employment practices and its key proposed changes.
In Brief - February 2018 Round-Up
EMPLOYMENT BULLETIN
To help you quickly keep up to date with employment law, we summarise the key developments arising from cases, guidance, legislation and consultations for this month.
If you would like to discuss any of the points raised, please get in touch with Helen Dallimore, senior associate, or with your usual contact in the Foot Anstey employment team.
In the courts…recent case law developments
An employer should not be treated as knowing that an employee is disabled when medical evidence wrongly regards that employee as not disabled
The case of Donelien v Liberata UK involved a Claimant who suffered with various health complications which resulted in their attendance being very poor. An OH nurse report provided that, despite these complications, the Claimant's conditions fell short of being classified as a disability. The Claimant was dismissed and claimed disability discrimination.
Employment Bulletin - January 2018
Employment Bulletin
Welcome to our first bulletin of the year! Inevitably a new year in the fast changing world of employment law brings with it new developments to keep on top of. In this edition we highlight the top 10 changes for 2018 to help you plan for the year ahead. We also take a focused look at the Gender Pay Gap obligations that businesses need to comply with by 4 April. In addition, we summarise what has already happened in employment law during January. Read More...
