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February 2012
Putting lawyers in touch with the youth of Oldham
Pearson Hinchliffe partner, Michael Pitt, takes over as 2012 Oldham Law Association President.
MoreThe Company Names Tribunal
22nd October 2009
Has a company name been registered at Companies House too like yours?
The Companies Act 2006 (the Act) may provide the answer. The Act distinguishes between a company name being too like another and one where the registration is considered to be an opportunistic registrations. Under section 69 of the Act the Company Names Tribunal has been set up at the Intellectual Property Office and adjudicators appointed.
The adjudicators have recently made adjudications in favour of Coca-Cola Ltd against Coke Cola Ltd and Zurich Insurance Co against Zurich Financial Special Risk Ltd. and Zurich Risk Transfer Ltd and Harrods against Harrods Limousine Ltd. The adjudicators have ordered the offending companies to change their name and to pay £700.00 costs to the applicant. If the offending company’s name is not changed the adjudicator will change the name to that of the company’s registered number.
The Company Names Tribunal state opportunistic company name registrations share similar characteristics to opportunistic Internet domain name registrations (called cyber squatting) such as registering one or more variations of the name of a well known company. But note, the adjudicators cannot deal with cases where someone feels that another company name is too similar to their own company’s name where the dispute will be dealt with by Companies House, and if it amounts to passing off it may be actionable by the courts.
Click here to speak to a specialist commercial lawyer.
January 2012
Company and commercial law reforms to reduce red tape
Companies of all shapes and sizes have been asked for their views on how to tackle unnecessary bureaucracy in company and commercial law.
MoreJanuary 2012
Increase in unfair dismissal qualifying period will apply only to new employees
From 6 April 2012 the qualifying period of service for making a claim increases from one to two years.
MoreJanuary 2012
Maximum compensation for unfair dismissal increases from 1 February 2012
Annual revision of employment tribunal award limits and other amounts payable under employment legislation.
MoreDecember 2011
Health and safety laws to be cut by half
Government plans to slash health and safety red tape will mean substantial savings for small firms, business groups have said.
MoreNovember 2011
Weight Watchers case: the importance to employers of employment status.
The Upper Tier Tribunal holds 1,700 ‘leaders’ at Weight Watchers were employees for tax purposes.
MoreSeptember 2011
How to Conduct a Disciplinary Hearing
A recent presentation by Employment solicitor, Susan Mayall, setting out the stages for handling a disciplinary, referencing the ACAS Code of Conduct.
June 2011
ACAS Advice leaflet “Holidays and Holiday Pay”
Download the guidance covering arrangements for holidays and holiday pay.
October 2010
Recent Case Study: Commercial Landlord and Tenant - An Authorised Guarantee Agreement
Authorised Guarantee Agreements keep the original tenant on the hook in case a third party assignee defaults; they should be drafted with care.
July 2010
Recent Case Study: Doing Battle in the Boardroom
How Pearson Hinchliffe Commercial Law helped members of the Board of Directors achieve the outcome they sought in their boardroom dispute with a senior executive director.
May 2010
How the Mergers & Acquisitions team helped Lanes Group PLC achieve their LAS sell-off
Drainage specialists dispose £12.3 million majority stake in Lanes Assistance Services.
March 2010
PH Employment Direct
The Employment team at Pearson Hinchliffe Commercial Law have created PH Employment Direct - a user-friendly and simple service that gives you access to the best advice at the end of a phone 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
February 2010
Oldham Construction Sector
On 3 February 2010 Corporate Commercial partner Roger Hinchliffe delivered a presentation entitled, ‘Joint Ventures’ to the Oldham Construction Sector group.
January 2010
Debt Recovery Service
With our specialist commercial Debt Recovery service you can significantly increase the speed and likelihood of recovering the money owed to your business.