Blog Post
Economic duress and franchising: when does a threat not to enter into a contract amount to economic duress?
In the recent case of Times Travel (UK) Limited v Pakistan International Airlines Corporation, the Court of Appeal considered whether a threat not to enter a contract could amount to economic duress, holding that this would not be the case unless the threat was made in bad faith. This decision clarifies the scope of economic duress and this article consider these issues in the context of franchising. Franchise renewals often contain terms which can seem unfair, such as an obligation to pay renewal fees, a waiver of existing claims and an obligation to enter into the franchisor's then current standard franchise agreement. A franchisee will feel they have no option other than to acquiesce and enter into the renewal agreement in order to secure their business for the renewal term.
Blog Post
Keeping your trade secrets safe – a European perspective for franchisors
The EU Trade Secrets Directive (2016/244/EU) (the "Directive") sets out to harmonise the protection of trade secrets in all Member States in the European Union. This update will examine how the Directive has been implemented across a number of jurisdictions and comment on what this means for franchisors, or indeed any party, which is engaging third parties to sell their products and services.
Blog Post
Nike fined for breaches of competition law – what this means for your merchandising and distribution agreements
The European Commission decision against Nike fined the sports retailer €12.5 million for breaches of EU competition law. This significant decision serves as a useful warning to review merchandising and distribution agreements and current business practices to ensure they are compliant with competition law.
Blog Post
The new German Trade Secrets Act
The new law on the protection of trade secrets entered into force on 26 April 2019. This means that Germany has also implemented the provisions of Directive (EU) 2016/943 - with a delay. The newly introduced provisions of the Trade Secrets Act ("GeschGehG") replace the previously applicable provisions of §§ 17 - 19 German Act against Unfair Competition ("UWG"). The GeschGehG brings some innovations with consequences for corporate compliance, which we would like to briefly present to you here.
Blog Post
The introduction of 'Natasha's Law'
On the 25th June 2019, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs announced the introduction of a new law relating to the labelling of pre-packaged food, which is being referred to as 'Natasha's Law'.
Blog Post
Commercial Agents Regulations – a key decision in the High Court
Green Deal Marketing Southern Ltd v Economy Energy Trading Ltd & Ors [2019] EWHC 507 (Ch). On 6 March 2019, the High Court issued a decision on the treatment of compensation under the Commercial Agents Regulations 1993 (the "Regulations").
Blog Post
Geo-blocking update
We wrote a blog in March 2018 on the "Geo-Blocking Regulation'" (Regulation (EU) 2018/302). Please click here to read the full blog. In this post we commented that it was unclear how the Geo-blocking Regulation will operate between the UK and the EU after Brexit because much will depend on any bilateral agreement or trade deal between the UK and the rest of the EU.
Blog Post
A place in the sun: online hotel booking sites agree to modify sales practices
We wrote a blog in November 2017 detailing that the Competitions and Markets Authority (the "CMA") had launched an investigation into the sales practices of a number of large hotel booking sites. Further to that investigation and subsequent enforcement action in 2018, the CMA has announced this week that 6 hotel booking sites have voluntarily agreed to change their sales practices by 1 September 2019.
Blog Post
Product Marking in the event of a no-deal Brexit
With a no-deal Brexit looking like an increasingly likely proposition, HM government has drawn up plans to replace the CE conformity safety symbol on consumer products.
Blog Post
Gambling Sector Update – January 2019
There have been a couple of big stories in the last few months for the gambling sector. Firstly, online gambling companies have voluntarily agreed to stop showing betting adverts during live sport. Secondly, the BBC has uncovered serious failings with the effectiveness of self-exclusion schemes such as Gamstop.