Monday January 30, 2012 at 12:56pm
The iconic red London bus has found itself at the centre of a dispute over copyright.
Earlier this month Judge Birss QC handed down his judgement in the Patents County Court case of Temple Island Collections Limited v New English Teas Limited and Nicholas Houghton.
It is an interesting case because it did not involve publishing a photograph taken by the claimant, but creating a similar photograph taken from the roughly the same viewpoint and using a black and white image of the Houses of ....
(read more...)Sunday January 29, 2012 at 6:09pm
When speaking to our clients recently, it is apparent that most have started the year with a sense of cautious optimism. It’s easy to understand the source of the caution: the economy remains in a mess for the 5th year running, with negative growth back, unemployment continuing to rise and the largest ever national debt. Although there has been much talk of the government reducing red tape, little has been achieved so far and we are still affected by a seemingly endless stream of new regul....
(read more...)Friday January 27, 2012 at 9:34am
The current difficulties small businesses are having raising finance are well known. One idea that hasn't been discussed so far in the media is one possible solution - the live/work unit.
A live/work unit is a property that combines living space and business space under one roof. The crucial issue for small businesses, though, is that the cost of buying and running live/work units is much lower than the combined cost of buying and running a home and separate business premises.
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(read more...)Thursday January 26, 2012 at 11:00am
If your website uses cookies or similar technology you need to comply with the new cookies rules introduced last year by 26th May 2012. This means that you need to tell users what cookies your site uses, explain what those cookies do and, unless certain very narrow exceptions apply (read Can you rely on exceptions to the cookie regs? ), obtain consent for any that are stored on the users’ computer, mobile phone or other web-enabled device. Previous blogs have dealt with the rules and ....
(read more...)Thursday January 26, 2012 at 9:39am
Jones Lang LaSalle reports there is likely to be a shortage of serviced office accommodation in London this year with the result that rents in that sector are likely to rise.
One solution if you need more meeting or conference space is to take advantage of the service offered by Hubworking Limited which supplies pay as you go meeting and conference facilities in Central London.
Steven Petty, Commercial Property Solicitor....
(read more...)Wednesday January 25, 2012 at 11:25am
As if times weren't hard enough for commercial real estate investors, David Cameron has announced that the Government is to make available unwanted Government offices at 'low rates' to businesses.
Already faced with paying business rates on offices they are unable to let out, landlords will now find that market rents are likely to fall further in the face of the Government's incentive.
Steve Petty, Commercial Property Solicitor....
(read more...)Wednesday January 18, 2012 at 1:10pm
The Government has announced plans to begin a major cut back of health and safety red tape. It will begin an immediate consultation on the abolition of large numbers of health and safety regulations and intends to have removed the first rules from the statute book within a few months.
It seems David Cameron has finally realised how crippling the raft of health and safety legislation can be for the average business. He’s recognised that health and safety legislation has become an "al....
(read more...)Wednesday January 18, 2012 at 10:00am
The new regulations relating to cookies which came into force last year basically requires website owners not only to provide information about cookies they use and a mechanism to opt out, but to obtain consent from users of the site before a cookie is used. The only circumstances where this does not apply are very limited.
The only exception to the requirement to provide information and obtain consent is where the use of the cookie is:
for the sole purpose of carrying out the tran....
(read more...)Thursday January 12, 2012 at 9:00am
In my last blog (Website owners are warned by Information Commissioner) I mentioned that the ICO had issued updated guidance on compliance with the new cookies regulations introduced last year. This new version of the guidance is much more detailed than the original version and, along with the report from the Information Commissioner which I talked about previously, also warns that, if your website uses cookies or similar technology for storing information, you should not simply ignore the regul....
(read more...)Wednesday January 4, 2012 at 10:34am
Whilst most of us were preparing for the Christmas and New Year festivities, the Information Commissioner issued his half term report about the preparations for complying with the cookie regulations which came into force last year. Details of those new regulations were given in my blogs at the time - there are links to them below if you’d like a recap. Basically, if your website uses cookies you now not only need to give details, but you also need consent from visitors to the site for most....
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