Huntley Legal's Blog

For those of you that read the blog relating to Bribery Act 2010 and its offences posted earlier this year in Huntley Legal’s Blog you, will be interested to know that the first charges under the Bribery Act 2010 has now been reported by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The point whether a warranty also amounted to a represented was considered by the Court in the case of  Sycamore Bidco Limited v Sean Breslin and Andrew Dawson [2012] EWHC 3443 (Ch).

Are you considering selling your business? Have you thought about the risks attached to the sale? Many may think that once a business is sold they can sit back and relax but you may want to reconsider that. Especially if you have given assurances to the buyer about the business that later prove to be untrue!

Parties with different bargaining powers often enter into a contract after a bit of negotiation but we all know that the party with more bargaining power often gets its way. The question is how much a party can exclude it’s liability under a contract?

A recent case of Yam Seng Pte Limited v International Trade Corporation Limited, has given rise to the possibility that the duty of good faith could be implied in to general commercial agreements. Although the duty of good faith is already implied in certain instances such as in agreements of a fiduciary nature or contracts concerning insurance, the English Courts have not as of yet implied this duty generally to other agreements. 

The case of Oracle International Corp. v UsedSoft GmbH involved Usedsoft who is engaged in the purchasing and selling of licence keys to various software. In 2005 Usedsoft, ran a promotion, selling licences to Oracle's databank software. A purchaser could buy the licence from Usedsoft and then download the relevant software directly from Oracle. The licences Usedsoft was selling were previously purchased from Oracle customers. Oracle's licence terms explicitly state that the licence is non-transferable. As a result of this, Oracle sought an injunction against Usedsoft in relation to their sales activities. 

In England and Wales there is a general legal presumption that the rights of a general IP sub-licensee cannot exceed those contained in the main licence itself. This position has been settled in case law however recent legal rulings in Germany should be noted by licensors engaged in international deals.  

The insurance sector is one where liabilities are often uncertain. This has been identified as an area which consumers are not adequately protected as the degree of exposure an insurer has is often unknown to a consumer. The limited information available means a consumer is unable to adequately monitor their insurer and make informed decisions as to whether they should switch to another insurer. 

The 1st April marked the day the FSA was officially disbanded, giving rise to the biggest reform in financial regulation seen for quite sometime. The responsibility for financial regulation has now been split between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Policy Committee (FPC).

This blog looks at and offers some reminders of the risks all businesses and their staff should be aware of in relation to the use of email and internet in and around the business. At the heart of this issue are the reputational risks to the business and individuals involved. These risks are all intensely magnified by social media,