Commercial Litigation UK

  • March 10, 2025

    Industry Divided On Funders' Oversight As CJC Review Closes

    Submissions to a government-backed review of litigation-funding, which closed this month, have exposed sharp divisions among litigators, funders and trade bodies over whether the market for such financial backing should be targeted with mandatory regulation.

  • March 07, 2025

    £800M Pollution Class Action Against Water Cos. Rejected

    The U.K.'s competition court on Friday threw out an £800 million ($1 billion) proposed class action against several water companies over their alleged failure to report pollution, concluding that the case was excluded by legislation governing the water businesses. 

  • March 07, 2025

    FCA Can Reject Criticism Of Redress For Misselling Scandal

    The Financial Conduct Authority is entitled to "reasonable disagreement" with an official review that criticized its decision to exclude around 10,000 transactions from a compensation scheme for a bank misselling scandal, a court ruled Friday.

  • March 07, 2025

    Chinese Medical Co.'s Suction Device Patent Claim Backfires

    A Chinese medical device maker on Friday failed to convince a London court that a British rival infringed its patent for a suction device to remove kidney stones because the patented technology found in its rival's products was standard practice.

  • March 07, 2025

    Solicitor Struck Off Over Immigration Application Lies

    A former lawyer at Seddons Law LLP who repeatedly lied about the immigration applications of "vulnerable" clients he was representing was struck off by the profession's disciplinary tribunal on Friday.

  • March 07, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen an Iranian oil company sued for $95 million, Betfred hit with a lawsuit from a property company and NHS England face a human rights claim brought by a man detained under the Mental Health Act for over 20 years. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • March 07, 2025

    Centrica Must Face Ex-Employee Blacklisting Claim

    An employment tribunal has refused to ax a former Centrica PLC employee's claims that he was fired and mistreated for whistleblowing, ruling that he should get the chance to make his case at a full trial.

  • March 07, 2025

    Flower Biz Hits Back At Rival In Google Search TM Fight

    A fresh flower retailer has denied infringing a rival's trademarks by using its name as a keyword for Google ads, telling a London court that it has stuck to a longstanding agreement not to do so.

  • March 07, 2025

    EU Court Rules Against Forced Transfer Of Musician Rights

    The National Orchestra of Belgium cannot force its musicians to transfer their intellectual property rights to their employer without consent, the European Union's top court ruled, in a move that offers stronger protections for performers in the digital and live-performance sectors.

  • March 07, 2025

    Barclays Asked Andrew Bailey To Speed Up Staley Probe

    Andrew Bailey testified Friday that Barclays asked him to "expedite" an investigation into its chief executive, Jes Staley, while he was head of the U.K. financial regulator amid concerns about the fallout from the probe into the CEO's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein being made public.

  • March 07, 2025

    Actor Says Guardian Got 'Sexual Predator' Story 'Plum Wrong'

    Actor Noel Clarke accused the publisher of the Guardian newspaper in a court Friday of trying to "go for the jugular" when it published articles about allegations that he had sexually harassed, abused and assaulted women for around 15 years.

  • March 07, 2025

    Xeinadin Settles £1M Claim Against Ex-Director Over Poaching

    Accountancy group and business adviser Xeinadin has settled its over £1 million ($1.3 million) claim against the former director of an accountancy firm it acquired over allegations he had sought to lure clients and employees to a rival practice after he was ousted from the business.

  • March 07, 2025

    Howden Sued For £20M Over Hotel Chain's COVID Losses

    The owner of a string of boutique hotels has said Howden Insurance Brokers Ltd. must pay out over £20.4 million ($26.4 million) for failing to arrange adequate insurance cover that allegedly left it short when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and shuttered sites.

  • March 07, 2025

    Fintech Unable To Hike $28M Claim Against Tanzanian Bank

    A London-based fintech company on Friday lost its bid to add an extra $4.9 million to its $28 million claim against a Tanzanian bank, with a London court ruling that adding to the case would scupper a looming trial.

  • March 07, 2025

    Toy Maker Drops EU Trademark Appeal Over Rubik's Cube

    A toy company has ended its appeal against a decision to shun its bid for a trademark in the European Union covering a 3D picture that resembles a Rubik's Cube.

  • March 06, 2025

    Barclays GC Helped Staley Respond To Epstein Controversy

    Former Barclays boss Jes Staley was helped by executives in the bank to draft talking points to "properly reflect" his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein to avoid being sacked as trustee from his alma mater, the bank's former top lawyer told a trial court Thursday.

  • March 06, 2025

    Visual Variations Argued As Key In 'Lego Exception' Designs

    Courts should look at the "overall impression" that a connector makes in the context of a broader modular system in order to decide whether the design merits intellectual property protections, an adviser to the European Union's highest court said Thursday in a case that could affect how something called the "Lego exception" applies.

  • March 06, 2025

    5 EU States Fined €39M Over Whistleblowing Law Delays

    Europe's top court on Thursday fined five European Union member states a total of almost €39 million ($42 million) after concluding that they took too long to adopt an EU directive to boost protections for whistleblowers.

  • March 06, 2025

    Ericsson Can't Take Lenovo License Feud To Top UK Court

    A London appeals court has refused Ericsson's bid to have the U.K.'s top court consider its ongoing licensing feud with Lenovo after ruling that a "willing licensor" in the Swedish company's position would have agreed to an interim license.

  • March 06, 2025

    Insurer Wins Landmark Appeal In Scotbeef Moldy Meat Case

    A London appeals court has ruled that a British insurer does not have to pay out over 100 tons of spoiled beef, finding in the first judgment of its kind that the company storing the meat breached its insurance policy terms.

  • March 06, 2025

    Barrister Beats 'Backdoor Appeal' Negligence Claim

    A London judge dismissed a businessman's claim against his former barrister for allegedly failing to raise certain legal arguments in a dispute concerning shipping containers Thursday, ruling that it was "a form of backdoor appeal" against another judge's decision.

  • March 06, 2025

    Tesla Fails To Revive 5G FRAND Feud With Avanci, InterDigital

    A London appeals court refused on Thursday to restart Tesla's attempt to sue Avanci and InterDigital in the U.K. over licensing rates for a 5G patent pool, drawing a boundary on its jurisdiction over such disputes.

  • March 06, 2025

    Paddy Power To Pay Out £1M For Monster Jackpot Error

    Online betting outfit Paddy Power must pay a U.K. woman her promised £1 million ($1.3 million) jackpot after a London court ruled that the prize shown on her computer screen is what she should get — even if it was the result of a software issue.

  • March 06, 2025

    Google To Face £1B Class Action Over App Store Practices

    The U.K. antitrust court gave an academic the go-ahead Thursday to bring a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) class action against Google on behalf of software developers over allegedly anticompetitive app store practices, clearing his litigation funding arrangement with amendments.

  • March 06, 2025

    Blake Morgan Denies Botching Pensions Advice To Trust

    Blake Morgan LLP has denied giving an archaeological trust negligent advice on the closure of its pensions plan, telling a London court that it was on the trust to make sure it validly shut the scheme.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Indonesia Feels Frustrated By Airbus Dispute Outcome

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    Although the U.K. Serious Fraud Office’s Airbus bribery investigation achieved a record payout for regulators, Indonesia’s threat to sue for lack of credit for its contribution serves as a reminder of the need to take care when settlements are distributed among investigating partners, says Niall Hearty at Rahman Ravelli.

  • UAE Bank Case Offers Lessons On Enforcing Foreign Rulings

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    The High Court recently clarified in Invest Bank v. El-Husseini that foreign judgment debts may be enforceable in England, despite being unenforceable in their jurisdiction of origin, which should remind practitioners that foreign judgments will be recognized in England if they are final and conclusive in their court of origin, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.

  • 9 Hallmarks Of The New German Class Action Regime

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    By recently adopting a new class action regime, Germany is taking an incremental step toward more collective redress, which may fundamentally change its litigation landscape amid increased European regulatory activity, a growing focus on private enforcement of regulations, and a consumer-friendly German judiciary, say lawyers at Gibson Dunn.

  • Protecting The Arbitral Process In Russia-Related Disputes

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    Four recent High Court and Court of Appeal rulings concerning anti-suit injunction claims illustrate that companies exposed to litigation risk in Russia may need to carefully consider how to best protect their interests and the arbitral process with regard to a Russian counterparty, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • Examining US And Europe Patent Disclosure For AI Inventions

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    As applicants before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office increasingly seek patent protection for inventions relating to artificial intelligence, the applications may require more implementation details than traditional computer-implemented inventions, including disclosure of data and methods used to train the AI systems, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Incontinence Drug Ruling Offers Key Patent Drafting Lessons

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    In a long-awaited decision in Astellas v. Teva and Sandoz, an English court found that the patent for a drug used to treat overactive bladder syndrome had not been infringed, highlighting the interaction between patent drafting and litigation strategy, and why claim infringement is as important a consideration as validity, says George McCubbin at Herbert Smith.

  • RSA Insurance Ruling Clarifies Definition Of 'Insured Loss'

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    A London appeals court's recent ruling in Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance v. Tughans, that the insurer must provide coverage for a liability that included the law firm's fees, shows that a claim for the recovery of fees paid to a firm can constitute an insured loss, say James Roberts and Sophia Hanif at Clyde & Co.

  • Putin Ruling May Have Unintended Sanctions Consequences

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    By widening the scope of control, the Court of Appeal's recent judgment in Mints v. PJSC opens the possibility that everything in Russia could be deemed to be controlled by President Vladimir Putin, which would significantly expand the U.K.'s sanctions regime in unintended ways, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • EPO Decision Significantly Relaxes Patent Priority Approach

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    In a welcome development for patent applicants, a recent European Patent Office decision redefines the way that entitlement to priority is assessed, significantly relaxing the previous approach and making challenges to the right to priority in post-grant opposition proceedings far more difficult, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • Landmark EU Climate Case May Shape Future Disputes

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    The European Court of Human Rights' recent hearing in its first-ever climate change case Agostinho v. Portugal, concerning human rights violation claims due to countries' failure to curb emissions, may develop the law on admissibility and guide future climate disputes before domestic courts, say Stefanie Spancken-Monz and Leane Meyer at Freshfields.

  • Bias Claim Highlights Need For Menopause Support Policies

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    The recent U.K. Employment Tribunal case Rooney v. Leicester City Council, concerning a menopause discrimination claim, illustrates the importance of support policies that should feed into an organization's wider diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging strategies, say Ellie Gelder, Kelly Thomson and Victoria Othen at RPC.

  • UK Case Offers Lessons On Hiring Accommodations

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    The U.K. Employment Appeal Tribunal recently ruled in Aecom v. Mallon that an employer had failed to make reasonable adjustments to an online application for an applicant with a disability, highlighting that this obligation starts from the earliest point of the recruitment process, say Nishma Chudasama and Emily Morrison at SA Law.

  • Shifting From Technical To Clear Insurance Contract Wordings

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    Recent developments on insurance policies, including the Financial Conduct Authority's new consumer duty, represent a major shift for insurers and highlight the importance of drafting policies that actively improve understanding, rather than shift the onus onto the end user, say Tamsin Hyland and Jonathan Charwat at RPC.

  • A Case For The Green Investment Regime Under The ECT

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    The EU and U.K.'s potential plans to exit the Energy Charter Treaty, which has been criticized as protecting fossil fuel investments to the detriment of energy transition, ignore the significant strides taken to modernize the treaty and its ability to promote investment in cleaner energy forms, say Amy Frey and Simon Maynard at King & Spalding.

  • How Employers Can Support Neurodiversity In The Workplace

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    A recent run of cases emphasize employers' duties to make reasonable adjustments for neurodiverse employees under the Equalities Act, illustrating the importance of investing in staff education and listening to neurodivergent workers to improve recruitment, retention and productivity in the workplace, say Anna Henderson and Tim Leaver at Herbert Smith.

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