Competition and Markets Authority launches action against British Airways and Ryanair

The Competition and Markets Authority (the CMA) have stated that Ryanair and British Airways could have breached consumer law by refusing to refund customers at the height of the pandemic. Instead, they offered an option to rebook or vouchers. It said that it had opened enforcement cases into both airlines and had written to them detailing…

Uber drivers’ fight for workers’ rights reaches supreme court

Uber aims to change the ruling at the two-day hearing at the Supreme Court that previously said employees should be classified as workers in what could be a landmark decision. The legal battle began back in 2016 when an employment tribunal ruled in favour of a group of Uber drivers who requested employment protections such…

Supreme Court to hear Nigerian communities’ pollution claims against Shell

The UK Supreme Court will hear arguments from the Ogale and Bille communities in Nigeria that Shell should be held accountable significant and systematic pollution caused by oil extraction in the Niger delta. They say they have suffered decades of pollution, including the contamination of their water wells with potentially cancer-causing chemicals, as well as…

New insolvency law to help businesses survive in face of ‘aggressive debt recovery’ during pandemic

Businesses struggling to stay afloat through the Covid-19 crisis could be saved by the introduction of a new Corporate Governance and Insolvency Bill giving companies time to restructure, refinance and keep trading when they might otherwise go out of business because of debts caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Under the rules, wrongful trading provisions will be temporarily suspended; meaning directors…

The UKIPO rejects Kellogg’s trade mark opposition

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has rejected a trademark opposition brought by the Kellogg Company against British brewery Fuller’s.   In June 2018, Kellogg’s filed an opposition to Fuller’s ‘Fruit Loop’ mark for a seasonal summer beer, which Kellogg’s claimed infringed its EU trademark for its breakfast cereal brand Froot Loops. Kellogg’s claimed that the…

Aberdeen FC loses trademark battle over ‘Dons Dram’ whisky

Aberdeen FC have lost a court battle with a Spanish sherry-maker, Sandeman over the right to call their brand of Scotch whisky the ‘Dons Dram’ – because Sandeman owns the copyright. Aberdeen FC, nicknamed The Dons, launched the blended whisky and applied to register the name Dons Dram as a trademark to protect its brand, however, Sandeman objected.…

Scotland is set to become the first country in the world with a minimum price for alcohol sales

Scotland is set to become the first country in the world with a minimum price for alcohol sales after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) and other drinks manufacturers, who argued that the policy was “disproportionate” and illegal under European law.   It brings to a close a five-year legal…