Trade Marks

Many of our local clients use innovative names for their businesses and products. Some protect these by registered trade marks. From 1st October, new rules for trademarks come into force.

Matthew Bailey says:

“The new rules provide that the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will now examine trade mark applications to see if the mark is distinctive and suitable for registration as now - but they will no longer check if someone else has the same or similar name. This means that unless trade mark owners are watching out for new registrations by competitors and others, they may find someone registers their name as a mark.

However, companies can oppose an application for registration of their own name or a similar name but that will occur only if they notice it is going through. This makes the UK system similar to that applying in the other 26 EU states which are part of the Community Trade Mark system. Many UK trade mark owners also apply for Community Trade Marks, which provide one mark protecting them in 27 EU states. Under the CTM system 25% of marks which are applied for are opposed but currently in the UK it is only 5%. It is likely that oppositions will also rise in the UK under this new system.

However, the IPO will notify applicants if it notices an overlap with an existing mark. There is also a system where existing owners can pay to use notification services. Contact us if you have any trade mark or similar issues. Call Matthew on 01329 822333

Employment Law Changes

1st October is always a key date for changes in employment law and this October is no exception. Andrew Bryan says:

“There are three main changes this October:

Holidays
The Working Time (Amendment) Regulation 2007 now provides that all employees are entitled to 24 days holiday a year including bank holidays for full time 5-day a week workers. Many workers already have 20 days plus bank holidays so are over the new threshold but some may not and for those this will be a big change.

Flexible working
The Flexible working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 extend the right to request flexible working to private foster carers and relatives of private foster carers.

Minimum Wage
The minimum wage rises to £5.52 per hour. For 18–21 year olds it is £3.40 per hour. For under-18s it is £3.40. There is no minimum for those under compulsory school leaving age.

The Equality Act 2006 also came into force on 1st October and the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) replaces the previous equality bodies including the EOC. If you need any advice on employment law changes, contact us for further information Andrew 023 9221 0170.

Directors' Duties

The Companies Act 2006 has changed the law on duties of directors. From 1^st October four of the new seven duties placed on directors of companies are in force.

John Guest says:-

“The four new duties are that the director must act within the powers granted to them by their company, that they must exercise independent judgement, must use reasonable skill, care and diligence and must promote the success of their company. The other three duties come into force in October 2008 - to avoid conflicts of interest, declare interests in transactions with which the company is involved and a duty not to accept benefits from third parties.

Many of these duties already exist as developed in case law over the years but this is the first time they have been written down in a statute. The duty to promote the success of the company extends the existing law. The director has to “act in the way he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole” This will include considering the interests of the employees, what consequences a decision will have long term, fostering good relationships with suppliers, customers and others, impact of the business on the community and environment and keeping the company’s reputation for high standards high.

If a director does not pay heed to these issues then they could be sued later by shareholders suing in the company’s name.

For more information on directors’ duties and the Companies Act 2006 in general call John on 01329 822333.