In March 2026 the darts phenomenon and reigning World Champion, Luke Littler, applied to the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to register his face as a trade mark in the UK across a variety of different categories [From the Oche to the IPO: can a face function as a trade mark? | Global IP & … Continue Reading
On 17 June 2026, the Department for Transport and the UK government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles opened a new consultation inviting views from any interested parties on its draft statement of safety principles for automated vehicles [Automated vehicles: statement of safety principles consultation – GOV.UK]. The statement is a requirement under section 2 … Continue Reading
As trailed in the media over this weekend, the UK prime minister Sir Kier Starmer has today announced that the UK government intends to introduce a full ban on under-16s from accessing social media platforms Social media to be banned for under-16s in landmark government move to give kids their childhood back – GOV.UK. Scope of … Continue Reading
In October 2025, UK regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), published its final decision to designate Google as having strategic market status (SMS) in the UK in general search and search advertising services. This designation covered Google’s substantial and entrenched market power in general search and search advertising, and whilst Google’s Gemini AI tool … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Jonathan Mason for his contributions to this post. In early March, the darts phenomenon and reigning World Champion, Luke Littler, applied to the UK Intellectual Property Office (“IPO”) to register his face as a trade mark in the UK across a variety of different categories from the obvious (class 9 … Continue Reading
As trailed in its progress statement published in December 2025 and discussed in our previous blog, the UK government published on 18 March 2026 its much awaited full report considering the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems. The report follows the government’s high-profile consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence which ran … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Joshua Saunders for his contributions to this post. In February 2025 we reported on the UK government consultation on potential changes to UK copyright legislation in light of AI, Clock is Ticking for Responses to UK Government Consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence | Global IP & Technology Law Blog. … Continue Reading
Meta’s eye-catching end-of-year acquisition of Manus, a Singapore-based developer of AI agents, for a purported value of more than $2 billion[1], reflects a wider sector shift towards the development and deployment of semi-autonomous, outcome-focused, software agents, which are capable of performing complex tasks without direct and constant human input. The Meta deal notably follows Salesforce’s … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Sirrul Choudhury for his contributions to this post. On 20 November 2025 the UK government confirmed that the secondary legislation which is required to clarify and bring into force the new consumer subscription contract regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) [A New Era for Consumer … Continue Reading
On 4 November 2025 the UK High Court handed down its judgment in the case of Getty Images (US) Inc (and others) v Stability AI Limited [2025] EWHC 2863 (Ch) [High Court Judgment Template]. The case concerned the training, development and deployment of Stability AI’s “Stable Diffusion” generative AI model and, as one of the … Continue Reading
The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has officially confirmed the mobile network operators that will participate in the highly anticipated millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum auction. The auction, which will release valuable spectrum in the 26 GHz and 40 GHz bands, is a key step in advancing the UK’s 5G infrastructure, particularly in densely populated urban areas. … Continue Reading
As part of a package of measures detailed in its Small Business Plan released today the UK government has announced plans to tackle late payments to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK with the most significant legislative reforms in over 25 years aimed at introducing the toughest laws on late payment in … Continue Reading
Last week the UK data privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), announced a consultation [ICO call for views on our approach to regulating online advertising | ICO] on its approach to the enforcement of consent requirements under regulation 6 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) [The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC … Continue Reading
In November 2024 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced a project to consider how and when dynamic pricing is being used across different sectors of the UK economy and how that may affect consumers and the wider economy/competition in the UK market [Dynamic pricing project – GOV.UK]. This project is not an enforcement investigation and … Continue Reading
As many will know, the Autonomous Vehicle Act 2024 (the “AV Act”) paved the way to legalising the use of autonomous vehicles on UK roads. However, before any autonomous vehicles can be used on the UK roads (other than under controlled trials), it is important to be aware that the AV Act does not, at … Continue Reading
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) [Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024] has both increased consumer protection rights in the UK and the enforcement powers of the main consumer regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which for the first time has been granted wide-ranging powers to investigate suspected breaches of … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Royce Clemente for his contribution to this post. The UK Government has delayed the implementation of the Advertising (Less Healthy Food Definitions and Exemptions) Regulations 2024 (“Regulations”), which were due to come into force on 1 October 2025, in order to explicitly exempt ‘pure brand’ advertising from the Regulations. The Regulations … Continue Reading
As cyber security continues to make be headline news it is timely that on 7 May 2025 the UK government published a new voluntary Software Security Code of Practice: Software Security Code of Practice – GOV.UK This Code is designed to be complementary to relevant international approaches and existing standards and where possible reflects internationally … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Royce Clemente for his contributions to this post. In the recent case of Jaevee Homes Limited v. Mr Steven Fincham, the English High Court has handed down judgment that an exchange of WhatsApp messages between the parties formed a basic and legally binding contract, providing a reminder to parties involved … Continue Reading
In October 2024 we reported on the case of Kompakwerk GmbH v Liveperson Netherlands B.V. [CL-2018-000802] which concerned the question of whether an agent selling access to end users in Great Britain to a third-party software as a service (SaaS) product should be considered an agent for the purposes of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations … Continue Reading
In the UK, intellectual property (IP) infringement claims and other disputes in which IP is a major concern can be brought in either the High Court or in many cases the specialist Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC). Based at the Rolls Building in central London, the IPEC has a more streamlined procedure than the High … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Sumaiyah Razzaq for her contributions to this post. Ever since the emergence of generative AI, a major concern for all participants has been the extent to which copyright works can and should be used in training AI models. The application of UK copyright law for this purpose is disputed, leading … Continue Reading
For 30 years many third-party agents who buy or sell goods in Great Britain on the behalf of another (their principal) as opposed to in the agent’s own name have qualified for protection under the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 [The Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993] (the Regulations). If the criteria for the … Continue Reading
Consumer law and regulation has been thrusted into the limelight in recent months. The main reason for this is the introduction of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC Act), which received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024. The changes introduced by the DMCC Act are significant and will result in both increased consumer … Continue Reading
