Last week on 8 December 2020, the UK Government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) announced its review of British gambling laws. As part of its review of the UK Gambling Act 2005 (the “Act”), the DCMS has initiated a call for evidence, which will stay open until 31 March 2021. This review … Continue Reading
On 2 November 2020, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it will be investigating descriptions and labels used to promote products and services claiming to be ‘eco-friendly’ and whether they could mislead consumers. The concern for the CMA is that an increase in demand for sustainability could lead to businesses making misleading, … Continue Reading
This blog is a follow-up to our recent blog on HMRC’s surprising Changes to VAT and Early Termination Payments. As we noted, HMRC’s updated guidance is proving to be highly controversial. What’s happened? Folks are unhappy because the updated guidance treats contract termination payments (including for breach or withdrawal or under liquidated damages clauses) as … Continue Reading
We previously blogged on a New York case that considered these thorny issues. In a new blog published in our Sports Shorts blog, we look again at this issue as very recently adjudicated by an Illinois court. Were these issues to be litigated in the UK, a similar result would likely arise. Namely, a tattoo … Continue Reading
Since 12 July 2020, the Platform to Business Regulation has been directly applicable in the UK and all EU member states. However, with Brexit worries and the COVID-19 crisis having an ongoing impact on business in the digital sector, the new rules have passed many by. Now is the time to ensure compliance. The Regulation … Continue Reading
The UK government has started its review of national gambling legislation, likely to result in the introduction of a new Gambling Act. New measures could include tighter restrictions on gambling sponsorship and advertising, such as gambling operators no longer being allowed to advertise on the shirts of sports teams or any other visible part of … Continue Reading
Following the recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Meo (C-295/17) and a related case, HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) has updated its guidance on the VAT treatment of contractual compensation payments for early termination of commercial contracts. Such payments, irrespective of whether described as compensation or liquidated damages, will … Continue Reading
With the Brexit transition period ending on December 31st, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is issuing guidance for the UK Life Science industry – including guidance on clinical trials, market authorizations, and manufacture and supply, among other areas. The guidance will apply from the start of 2021. Squire Patton Boggs’ Triage … Continue Reading
The UK officially left the European Union on 31 January 2020. We are now in a one-year transition period, during which the UK has basically maintained many pre-Brexit positions. That said, once the transition period expires, we anticipate a number of changes to UK consumer law. That is because much of existing UK consumer law … Continue Reading
The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency recently provided some useful guidance on compliance with its CAP Code that will assist promoters, influencers, agencies and brands as they continue to navigate the various ASA rules during the COVID-19 crisis. Dealing with unexpected events whilst running promotions Section 8 of the CAP Code governs promotions, and includes rules … Continue Reading
Many bodies which are contracting authorities for the purpose of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“PCR 2015”), or equivalent contracting entities under the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016, the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 and/or the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011, will have a crucial role in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. This may include … Continue Reading
On 29 January 2020, brand owners across the EU were reassured in relation to the content of their trade mark specifications following the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in Sky v SkyKick (C-371/18). The CJEU provided welcome confirmation that trade mark registrations with specifications comprising of broad terms such as … Continue Reading
Is compliance with payment card data security standards being ignored? The recent £500,000 fine, levied by the UK Information Commissioner on DSG, the owner of Currys PC World and Dixons Travel stores, highlights a worrying trend of non-compliance with payment card security standards. Our Security & Privacy Team has prepared a full blog post on … Continue Reading
We recently considered the issue that the Coronavirus outbreak may result in an upsurge of force majeure related claims under commercial contracts. A further risk now coming to light is customers seeking to enforce contractual fines, penalties, “service credits” or “liquidated damages” (collectively referred to for ease of reference as “Penalties” although all slightly different … Continue Reading
Usually found towards the end of a commercial contract, a force majeure provision seeks to exclude the liability of one or more parties for events beyond their reasonable control. Often (and mistakenly) overlooked as “standard boilerplate”, the increasingly apparent and potentially extensive impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on global supply chains is likely to bring … Continue Reading
The ASA has banned four e-cigarette producers, including British American Tobacco (BAT), from promoting their vaping products on Instagram. The e-cigarette producers advertised their vaping products on their own Instagram accounts. The posts featured various celebrities holding and endorsing the products.… Continue Reading
In a landmark decision delivered recently by the UK Supreme Court, Professor Shanks, an inventor, was awarded £2 million in compensation for a device he created. Professor Shanks developed the technology while he was employed by a Unilever company and the invention has proved lucrative for Unilever in many jurisdictions. Background In the early 1980s, … Continue Reading
There are some colours that consumers associate with particular brands. For example, EasyJet is known for its distinctive orange livery, while Cadbury is known for the dark purple colour which it uses on the packaging of some of its chocolate bars and in its advertising. However, it is far from straightforward for brands to register … Continue Reading
It was recently reported that Marks & Spencer is to offer a ‘buy now, pay later’ option on its website for online customers. The company is modernising its services with the introduction of this payment scheme. Marks & Spencer joins the likes of ASOS and H&M in offering buy now, pay later (“BNPL“) services. How … Continue Reading
Property firm Savills recently estimated that the UK housing market is at its weakest point since the global financial crisis of 2007/2008 and it is perhaps unsurprising, therefore, that in recent years sellers have increasingly resorted to listing their property in a lottery or raffle. However, running a property lottery whilst simultaneously staying compliant with … Continue Reading
As we reported earlier this year, a new rule dealing with the depiction of harmful gender stereotypes, was introduced into the BCAP and CAP Codes as of June 2019. The first decisions under the new rules have been released and we have seen two separate ads by Volkswagen and Philadelphia banned by the Advertising Standards … Continue Reading
On Thursday 11 July 2019, the UK government confirmed that it will bring forward legislation for a new Digital Services Tax (DST) to take effect from April 2020. Squire Patton Boggs’ Tax team have prepared an alert, analysing the proposed legislation and assessing its possible impact and wider implications, which can be downloaded here. For more information, please contact Jeff VanderWolk.… Continue Reading
As we reported earlier this year, following a six-month adjustment period, a new rule dealing with the depiction of harmful gender stereotypes, has been introduced into the CAP and BCAP Codes, which came into force on 14 June 2019. Despite being just a month in, the ASA has already received complaints about adverts which appear … Continue Reading
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently announced that it has overturned its original ruling published on 13 March 2019 relating to a Sky Bet TV ad promoting their ‘Request a Bet’ service. As reported by Carlton Daniel in this blog and in Law360, the ASA had previously found that the advertisement contravened the advertiser’s duty … Continue Reading
