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News

The writing’s on the cookie wall…

Two recent publications have shed light on the use of consent to place cookies on website users’ devices. The Dutch Data Protection Authority, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the “AP“), has published guidance… Read more →

News

Fight for a deal is getting more competitive – The Times 28/02/2019

The article was originally published by The Times on 28 February 2019. Asda-Sainsbury’s CMA decision shows that fight for a deal is getting more competitive Jonathan Cornthwaite’s comments are mentioned… Read more →

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Important lessons for athletes from the Nike / Federer “RF” logo dispute – Dan Parkes writes for the LawInSport

This article was originally published by the LawInSport on 8th August 2018 | Authored by: Dan Parkes. While Roger Federer has triumphed on hard courts, clay courts and grass courts,… Read more →

Bulletins

In Counsel – Summer 2018

Welcome to the Summer edition of our In Counsel publication In this update we will outline the most recent legal developments affecting your business, in particular, the implications of the… Read more →

News

“F1 on collision course with stationery company over new logo in embarrassing trademark row” – Michael Gardner comments for The Independent

Partner and Head of our IP & Commercial Team, Michael Gardner, has had his comments on the Formula 1 trade mark row published by The Independent. Speaking of 3M’s suit… Read more →

News

“Blockchain – Can we trust you? What legal and cybersecurity risks lurk behind the hype?” – Adam Edwards writes for IT Pro Portal

Following the meteoric rise of Block Chain, IP & Commercial Partner and Head of IT Law, Adam Edwards, has explored some of the risks surrounding the ‘Crypto-craze’ for IT Pro… Read more →

Bulletins

Living a life of luxury

It is not so often that the official press release about an EU case opens with the words ‘A supplier…can prohibit…’. After all, the EU tends to disapprove of internal… Read more →

Bulletins

You want a pizza me?

Following an earlier decision in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court[1], the Court of Appeal recently dismissed an appeal against a declaration of invalidity in respect of the word trade mark… Read more →

Bulletins

UK merger control law – The goalposts are moving

There are plenty of things to worry about when planning a merger. But top of the worry list must be the possibility of governmental or regulatory intervention, either to block… Read more →

News

“Rights…and wrongs: When collaboration ends up in court” – Jonathan Cornthwaite writes for Bloomsbury Online

IP  & Commercial Partner, Jonathan Cornthwaite, has written an article on the “collaborative minefield” of IP in creative industries, for Bloomsbury Online. Jonathan, who recently co-authored a book entitled “Copyright:… Read more →

Bulletins

Changes to the Takeover Code

Following the consultations in July and September of last year (see our Autumn 2017 In Counsel), the Takeover Panel (the Panel) published its response statements on 11 December 2017 along… Read more →

Bulletins

IPEC rules on the skills creatives need to demonstrate to claim joint authorship

Authors, designers or other creatives working together on a project is common-place in many industries. However at what point do these contributions give rise to claims from individuals that, along… Read more →

News

“Experts Suggest 3M Push For ‘Settlement Fee’ In F1 Logo Row” – Michael Gardner comments for Forbes

Partner and Head of IP & Commercial, Michael Gardner, has had his comments published in Forbes following American conglomerate, 3M’s, trademark dispute over Formula One’s new logo. On the subject,… Read more →

News

“A tale of two Mercks — what the Big Pharma dispute teaches us” Michael Gardner has article published in Spear’s Magazine

Partner and Head of IP & Commercial, Michael Gardner, has had an article published in Spear’s Magazine on the Merck case, that recently reached England’s Court of Appeal. On protecting a… Read more →

News

IP & Commercial Partner, Jonathan Cornthwaite, co-authors a new book on Copyright

Jonathan Cornthwaite, Partner in our IP & Commercial team, has co-authored a new book, entitled A User’s Guide to Copyright (Seventh Edition).  The book has been described by it’s publishers, Bloomsbury, as “one… Read more →

Bulletins

Black cab shape not distinctive enough to be trademark, say judges

Appeal court rules against London Taxi Company, which claimed exclusive right to shape of its cars in order to thwart rival firm Please click on the links below to read… Read more →

Bulletins

Price comparison websites – 8 out of 10, but could do better

From the consumer standpoint, price comparison websites save time and effort by simplifying the tiresome task of shopping around for the best deal. But they can also be very good… Read more →

Bulletins

Law Lessons: What EU GDPR & NIS Directive Mean For Your Business

Last week, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) issued consultations on bills that govern data protection and essential infrastructure. The pages of Silicon UK have covered the… Read more →

Bulletins

EC Google Shopping ruling may prompt further abuse of dominance cases and private actions for damages

The European Commission (‘EC’) handed down a fine of €2.42 billion to Google on 27 June 2017, after finding that Google had breached EU antitrust rules by abusing its market dominance as a search engine throughout the EEA by giving an illegal advantage to its Google Shopping comparison shopping service.

“The EC’s decision confirms its view that Google’s search engine holds a dominant position,” notes Paul Stone, Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP. “This means that the EC can rely on this finding to pursue other abuse of dominance cases against Google.”

The EC found that Google gives, on a systematic basis, a prominent placement to Google’s comparison shopping service results in response to relevant user searches, and that Google’s criteria in its generic search algorithms demote rival comparison shopping services in results. As a result of its practices, Google “denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate. And most importantly, it denied European consumers a genuine choice of services and the full benefits of innovation,” said EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

As part of its investigation, which began in November 2010, the EC gathered a substantial amount of evidence, including 5.2 terabytes of Google search results alongside financial and traffic data used to examine the importance of Google search result visibility from a commercial perspective. “In terms of procedure we think that the EC’s decision sets something of a precedent, due principally to the remarkably wide and comprehensive evidence gathered by the EC before reaching its decision,” explain Jonathan Cornthwaite and Elisa Spanu of Wedlake Bell LLP. “This could provide a useful precedent for future regulatory investigations into the abuse of online markets.”

The EC has not specified a remedy to Google and instead has left it to Google to establish how to bring Google Shopping into compliance. Google will then need to explain this method to the EC, which will subsequently monitor Google’s compliance. Failure to comply with the EC’s decision will result in Google being liable for payments of up to 5% of the average daily worldwide turnover of Google’s parent company Alphabet. “It is noticeable that the decision expressly requires Google to comply with the principle of giving equal treatment to rival comparison shopping services and its own service, so – unless the decision is reversed on appeal – an obvious alteration to Google’s business model would be having to make its own comparison shopping service subject to the generic search algorithms that control where services appear in Google’s search results, and thereby also not displaying its own service at the top of search results – this would create a ‘level playing field,’” said Cornthwaite and Spanu.

The EC notes in its press release on the decision that persons or businesses affected by Google’s anti-competitive behaviour may look to obtain damages from Google, and Stone believes “we can expect to see a number of private actions for damages being pursued by operators of rival comparison shopping services.” Additionally two formal EC investigations into Google remain outstanding, with the EC also looking at Google’s search advertising practices and Google’s bundling of other Google products with its Android mobile OS respectively. “It is possible that we could see similar fines in those cases, although this decision might encourage Google to pursue the possibility of entering into commitments with the EC, in order to avoid fines and to seek to bring these cases to an end,” said Stone.

Please click here to read the full article which was first published in e-comlaw on 2 July 2017.

Bulletins

Colour trade marks and branding – The struggle continues

It is often said that a picture conveys more than a thousand words. In the world of brands, the same can be said of colours. Colours and colour schemes provide… Read more →

Bulletins

Open all hours? When do you ‘close for business’?

In Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (In Administration) v Exxonmobil Financial Services BV [2016] EWHC 2699 (Comm) the High Court considered what is meant by the phrase ‘close of business’. The… Read more →

Bulletins

A WILD USE CHASE: Recent UK and EU judgements on trade mark use

A stream of recent rulings from both UK and EU courts has demonstrated how crucial evidence of trade mark use – or lack of such evidence – can be to… Read more →

Brexit

Brexit negotiations: cart before horse?

There has been much attention over the bank holiday weekend about what allegedly happened on the evening of 26 April when the British PM, Theresa May met with Jean Claude-Juncker… Read more →

News

First Female Senior Partner

Wedlake Bell is pleased to announce that Kim Lalli has been elected as the firm’s Senior Partner. This will be for a four year term that begins on 1st January… Read more →

Bulletins

Victory for UK broadcasters against march of digital

Television broadcasting has been transformed by the march of digital technology. Channels such as ITV, which lost their near-monopoly on TV advertising long ago, need all the revenue they can… Read more →

Bulletins

Competition law – the temperature rises

Businesses often complain that competition law is difficult to understand. There’s a lot of truth in that. But some things are clear; and the stream of fines that the Competition… Read more →

Bulletins

Subject Access Requests following Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing

This court of appeal case, handed down on 16th February, concerns a subject access request (‘SAR’) made under s.7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (‘DPA’). It has the effect… Read more →

Bulletins

Keep taking the tablets: Flynn Pharma v DrugsRUs

This article summarises a recent trade mark judgment in the English High Court illustrating the legal problems that can arise when branded goods are traded and/or advertised across the internal… Read more →

Bulletins

Vidal-Hall v Google – potential headache for data controllers

The Court of Appeal has issued a potentially important ruling in the Vidal Hall v Google internet privacy case that could have significant implications for all organisations that are “data… Read more →

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“SUPREME” pet food no longer” and “no Deluxe for Lidl”

Two recent decisions – one in the English High Court and one in Europe – have served as a timely reminder of the difficulties inherent in choosing descriptive words as… Read more →

Bulletins

Hyperlinks and copyright infringement: Svensson

In a recent decision, the Court of Justice for the European Union has addressed whether providing a hyperlink can be an act of infringement under the EU Copyright Directive. Simple… Read more →