Wrigley Claydon Solicitors

Tag: Litigation

  • No Blurred Lines in latest high profile copyright case

    No Blurred Lines in latest high profile copyright case

    Blurred Lines songwriters – Pharrell Williams, TI and Robin Thicke – have been ordered to pay Marvin Gaye’s family more than $7m in damages for the infringement upon the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s 1977 song Got To Give It Up.

    The lawyers for Marvin Gaye’s family now also want to stop sales of the song and are to ask the Court for an injunction until a settlement can be reached as to how future royalties from the song will be shared.

    How Wrigley Claydon copyright solicitors can help you

    If you have a brand, something you have invented, or an original piece of work that you have written and someone infringes your rights, please contact us. The Commercial Litigation and copyright solicitors at Wrigley Claydon can help by securing an injunction, compensation or recover profits made by the infringement and the return and destruction of the offending item.

    If you have been accused of infringing someone’s intellectual property rights then we can also help by raising various defences and minimising your liability.

    Call either our copyright solicitors Oldham office on 0161 624 6811 or our Todmorden office on 01706 815 712. You can also email one of the Commercial Litigation team, Vijay Srivastava or Shalish Mehta.
  • Advice from our contract dispute solicitors

    Advice from our contract dispute solicitors

    Contract disputes can be extremely complicated and involve large sums of money. The latest high profile dispute concerned Rory McIlroy; the world’s No. 1 golfer, where his lawyers claimed he had been taken advantage of by his agents by signing his contract at a Christmas party in surroundings of “great informality”.

    The case could have taken up to eight weeks in Court however, the case was eventually settled by negotiation.

    If you need advice and help with your contract dispute, please contact us.

    At Wrigley Claydon, we can help you achieve a negotiated settlement, thereby avoiding Court. If a settlement cannot be achieved then we will guide you through the process from start to finish and aim to alleviate the stress and anxiety of court proceedings. We are specialists contract dispute solicitors and have won complex cases for our clients.

    Please contact our contract dispute solicitors on 0161 624 6811 or 01706 815 712.
  • Intellectual property advice from your commercial litigation solicitor

    Intellectual property advice from your commercial litigation solicitor

    Commercial disputes come in all shapes and sizes, from contract and property disputes, mergers, acquisitions and litigation to debt collection, employment issues, licensing and intellectual property.

    The issue of intellectual property can be a confusing one. Every business will own some form of intellectual property and protecting this is imperative.

    What is intellectual property?

    According to the Intellectual Property Office, intellectual property is something unique that you physically create – an idea alone is not intellectual property. They give the example of a book – an idea for a book is not intellectual property, but the words you’ve written are. Other examples are:

    • the names of your products or brands
    • your inventions
    • the design or look of your products
    • things you write, make or produce

    Copyright, patents, designs and trade marks are all types of intellectual property protection. By having the right type of protection you can stop people stealing or copying your work, reducing the risk of commercial dispute and the need for legal action. A commercial litigation solicitor can help advise you on intellectual property ownership and the appropriate type of protection.

    Intellectual property ownership

    Again, the Intellectual Property Office tells us you own intellectual property if you:

    • created it (and it meets the requirements for copyright, a patent or a design)
    • bought intellectual property rights from the creator or a previous owner
    • have a brand that could be a trade mark, eg a well-known product name

    Interestingly, intellectual property can have more than one owner, belong to people or businesses and be sold or transferred. If you are employed and created something as part of your job, you usually won’t own the intellectual property to this piece of work. This will belong to your employer. Exceptions might exist if you are a freelance worker, depending on your contact agreement and terms & conditions.  If a business is bought or sold, intellectual property ownership can also be sold or transferred as part of that exchange.

    If you have a dispute about your intellectual property, please speak one of our commercial litigation solicitors.  They are specialist intellectual property dispute resolution and litigation solicitors. They can assist you pursuing or defending a claim in matters relating to trademarks, trade marks overseas, patents, copyright, designs, confidential information, licensing your intellectual property, franchising and enforcement.

    If you feel your intellectual property rights have been infringed and need some legal advice then please speak to Vijay Srivastava or Shalish Mehta, our civil and commercial litigation solicitors.  Please call us on 0161 785 3534.
  • New rights for consumers against misleading and aggressive commercial practices

    New rights for consumers against misleading and aggressive commercial practices

    A new set of rights for victims of misleading and aggressive commercial practices came into force on 1st October 2014. Whilst it has been an offence for businesses to use these kinds of tactics since 2008, there has been no recompense for consumers who feel they have been victims.

    The Consumer Protection Regulations 2014 give consumers new rights to take civil actions to try and get compensation on goods or services received on or after 1st October.

    A misleading commercial practice is one which contains false information, or is likely to deceive the average consumer in its overall presentation. An example might be the promise of certain benefits from buying a particular product or service that are in fact false, download speeds of an Internet provider for example.

    An aggressive commercial practice is one which significantly impairs the consumer’s freedom of choice through the use of harassment, coercion or undue influence. A pushy door-to-door salesman who convinces a vulnerable person to sign up for a product or service they do not need by using unfair language and persuasive tactics is an example.

    According to the Department for Business Innovation & Skills the new rights will introduce:

    • a new 90 day period for victims to get out of a contract. Beyond this period consumers will still be able to get a discount on the price paid, as much as 100% depending on the actions of the trader. At present there is no right to a discount. Consumers can currently seek damages in the civil courts but it is extremely complex
    • a right to damages for any additional losses or stress suffered as a result of the actions of the trader
    • a brand new right to take personal action through the civil court for misleading or aggressive demands for payment, for example aggressive or misleading debt collection. At present there is no legislative right for consumers to do this

    Consumer Affairs Minister Jo Swinson said:

    The vast majority of businesses treat consumers fairly and provide a great service. However, a few bad apples have damaged the reputation of good business, broken the law and treated customers as a cash cow.

    This is why we are providing consumers with new powers to challenge rogue businesses and giving people the confidence to take action when they have been bullied or misled.

    If anyone thinks they’ve been bullied or misled into buying something the best thing to do is try and sort the issue out directly with the company and if that doesn’t work then contact Citizens Advice on 08444 111 444. They are an excellent source of advice and guidance.

    For more information or to speak to a civil litigation solicitor please call us on 0161 785 3534.
  • What qualifies as a small claim?

    What qualifies as a small claim?

    A small claim is a claim regarding a civil matter which is under £10,000. You can apply to small claims court if you are owed money by a business or an individual and they refuse to pay. For example, you may feel that you have been unfairly treated as a consumer, due to a lack of compensation for faulty goods or for an unreceived refund.

    Small claims typically include the following:

    • Unpaid debts
    • Bad workmanship
    • Goods not supplied
    • Damage to one’s property
    • Wages owed or money in lieu of notice
    • Disputes between landlords and tenants e.g. rent arrears or compensation for not doing repairs
    • Compensation for faulty goods or services provided

    If you go to court for a small claim, you will have to pay a court fee, from £30 to over £100 depending on your claim’s value. Then you might have to pay an hearing fee as well, if the other party denies owing you the money, which is usually of the same amount as the initial amount.

    The success of making a claim is not guaranteed so you need to think carefully before starting the process. Going to court should always be a last resort.  The court will expect you to have tried to settle the matter through other means before starting any court action. You will have also been expected to warn the other party of the possibility of the court action. However, once you have exhausted these options, if you still feel your situation is worth pursuing a claim in court, we can help you through the process.

    At Wrigley Claydon we can deal with the whole process for you to give you peace of mind or alternatively we can help you with parts of the process you are struggling with. You can find all the information about our small claims support in the litigation section of our website. Alternatively, if you wish to pursue another route before taking court action, we offer mediation services to try and settle disputes without the expense and time of taking full legal action. We also offer letter writing services should you be owed money – read more about our debt recovery services here.

    Please contact our team on 0161 785 3534 or send us a message through this website if you need help with small claims issues or for more information about what we could do to help you.
  • Neighbour Disputes Reach Boiling Point

    Neighbour Disputes Reach Boiling Point

    As a nation we are complaining more and becoming less willing to compromise. Wrigley Claydon Solicitors say this is evident with the increasing number of neighbour disputes which they are helping to resolve.

    You don’t have to be going through a bitter divorce or family rift to be involved in regular disputes these days. All you need is a disagreement over who owns a four-inch strip of land and you can be at loggerheads for years with your neighbours. As well as causing you heartache, such fights can cost you dearly and even make your house unsaleable.

    Our litigation specialist solicitor, Shalish Mehta comments,

    “The main causes of disputes are entrenched attitudes, a higher expectation of quiet, incompatible lifestyles with neighbours, lack of modern sound insulation and more powerful sound equipment.Boundary disputes over tiny bits of land can flare up when triggered by another cause such as leaves from one’s tree falling into a neighbour’s garden or a disagreement over parking.”

    HOW TO AVOID NEIGHBOUR DISPUTES

    If you want to prevent boundary disputes you should get an exact map of your land and borders drawn up by a surveyor when you buy a property.

    Be very much on your guard if the person you buy your house from says there is an ongoing dispute with the neighbours. There is a standard declaration for vendors to alert you to this, and if they conceal a problem they are guilty of misrepresentation and may have to subsequently reimburse buyers for any costs incurred as a result.

    Also look at the terms of your lease if you have one. You will see that in many cases floors have to be carpeted and you will be breaking the terms of the lease if you strip them down to the wood.If you have any plans to sell up in the near future think twice about starting a row with your neighbour.

    MAKING A COMPLAINT

    If you do make a complaint and then disclose it, we would usually advise potential buyers to not complete the purchase until the issue is resolved. However, if you live next to a fanatic the issue may never be resolved.

    Even complaining to your local environmental health officer could leave you in a similar position. Of such complaints, about one in six eventually leads to an officer issuing an abatement order, and getting to that stage can take months as you have to prove the problem is a continuing one and not just a one-off.

    Should you find yourself embroiled in a dispute with a neighbour, Shalish outlines how to proceed:

    • MEDIATION

    One solution would be to mediate. The process starts when one party approaches the Mediation Service. A mediator will then pay you a visit, talk the issues over with you and approach the other party, usually by letter. Parties can then choose to have either “face-to-face” or “shuttle” mediation, where the mediator acts as a go between.

    Once an agreement – either verbal or written – is reached, the mediator backs off. They check back in a month to make sure the agreement is holding up.

    Mediation services can be free if funded by councils or charities, but it depends where you live. If they are not free the cost will be around £1000.00 without the use of lawyers. Both parties must reach agreement about splitting the cost early on, but either way it is, as far cheaper than going to court.

    • COURT

    Taking someone to the County Court is expensive and time consuming.

    If you are determined to proceed to court then consult an experienced solicitor such as Wrigley Claydon. We will discuss with you various ways to fund your claim including purchasing legal expenses insurance whereby an insurer may agree to fund part of your claim subject to your claim having a reasonable prospect of success.

    For more information or to speak to our team about neighbour disputes please call us on 0161 785 3534.

    Team: Vijay Srivastava and Shalish Mehta