#contract

Jan 12, 2022
3 min

How do you interpret a copyright contract?

The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling by HHJ Hacon in the IPEC (first covered on the blog here) that copyright in a number of literary works consisting of computer software belonged to the claimant’s employer. The Court of Appeal’s decision is Penhallurick v MD5 Ltd. At first instance, HHJ Hacon found that (i) all the relevant works were created in the course of employment and that, (ii) in any case, rights were assigned to the employer by a November 2008 agreement. Interp

Nov 20, 2021
2 min

A Christmas miracle: Designs, confidential information and contracts

What connects Leonardo Da Vinci, a Christmas miracle and the possible award of exemplary damages? The answer lies in a recent High Court judgment by Mr Justice Jacobs (Salt Ship Design AS v Prysmian Powerlink SRL). The case concerned designs for a cable lay vessel produced by Salt Ship Design for Prysmian. The judge found that Prysmian (a company with annual revenue of €10 billion) had made the designs available to another designer, Vard Design AS, which was associated with t

Oct 4, 2021
2 min

A rotten judgment for John Lydon

Who has the power to control the use of the Sex Pistols IP rights? That was essentially the question decided by Sir Anthony Mann in Jones & Anor v Lydon & Ors, a decision of the High Court in August 2021. Most of the former band members want to give permission for use of its music in a planned TV series directed by Danny Boyle, but John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) opposes that permission. Two of the band members brought the action, seeking to enforce an eight-paragraph 1998 Band Me

May 13, 2021
2 min

No penalty clause in IP Settlement Agreement: royalty clawback & 6 figure lump sum payment permitted

A judge in the Patents Court has ruled that terms concerning the ownership and validity of IP rights in a settlement agreement were not “unenforceable penalty clauses”, in a case concerning patents for roofing products: Permavent Ltd & Anor v Makin [2021] EWHC 467 (Ch). This case is very important in the context of IP settlement discussions. Creative solutions are often the key to reaching a longer lasting solution. However, if the contracting parties cannot have legal certai

Apr 17, 2021
2 min

No penalty clause in IP Settlement Agreement: royalty clawback & 6 figure lump sum payment permitted

Feb 2, 2021
3 min

Passing off vs US law contract - guess which eagle wins?

Mr Justice Miles’s judgment in Lyle & Scott Limited v American Eagle Outfitters, Inc is an important decision for international fashion brands. The two companies use very similar eagle logos (pictured) for clothing that is sold through similar marketplaces in the UK and internationally. Lyle & Scott (L&S) is a long-standing British high-end fashion brand. It historically made golf clothes but by 2019 around half of its sales were polo shirts and T-shirts which are sold throu

Aug 22, 2020
2 min

How do you terminate a contract?

It is common for business priorities to change and relationships to improve or sour over time. At some point you will want to end a distribution agreement, franchise or agency agreement. Ending a contract is not always that straightforward... The first step is to look at what the contract itself says - this is not always as simple as it may appear and legal help may be required to identify the correct steps to follow. However, this is not the end of the process. There are man

Aug 22, 2018
2 min

How do you terminate a contract?

It is common for business priorities to change and relationships to improve or sour over time. At some point you will want to end a distribution agreement, franchise or agency agreement. Ending a contract is not always that straightforward... The first step is to look at what the contract itself says but this is not the end of the process. There are many terms which are implied by different countries in Europe. France has particularly complex provisions. The notice period tha

Aug 21, 2018
2 min

European contracts - part two

Defining terms Definitions make contracts easier to read. They are often known as "defined terms" and are a mini dictionary at the start of a contract. This means that, for example, rather than repeating the specific trade mark which is licensed, the "Trade Mark" is defined at the start and then the contract can simply refer to the Trade Mark in the rest of the document. Defined terms can save a lot of reading time and improve simplicity but if you get the definition wrong,

Aug 21, 2018
1 min

How to handle confidential information

Nobody wants their business secrets getting shared. This can happen broadly online or directly to a particular competitor. Both can be very damaging for the business. In fashion businesses, confidential information will often include strategy, factory connections, manufacturing processes or new designs (i.e. intellectual property rights). Remember that if a design has been shared online or registered with an intellectual property office, it is now public and consequently not

Aug 20, 2018
1 min

European contracts - the highlights

Every time you order goods from a factory or sell your products to a wholesaler, shop or end consumer, you are entering into a contract. You don't need to have anything in writing in order to create a legally binding contract but it is helpful to do so as it means that everyone is on the same page as far as the commercial deal is concerned. Pre-contractual liability Many EU Member States, such as Italy and France, have specific laws that apply even before you enter into a for

European Fashion Law