ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Introduction We are facing a new life-threatening virus, rapidly spreading on a global scale, for which there is currently no effective treatment or vaccine. Thankfully, this crisis has been met by an explosion of innovation and new product development, supported by incredible generosity from pharmaceutical and medical device companies that are pooling their resources, making accessible their relevant intellectual property (IP) and supplying products for free or at cost. While the unprecedented sharing of IP is highly commendable to combat the pandemic, companies should be mindful of the manner in which their IP is protected and shared to avoid potentially adverse consequences to their IP rights and sustainable product development in the longer term. Companies will also need to be aware that some governments are considering extreme measures such as the use of compulsory licensing to allow third parties to use new technologies while avoiding patent infringement. This is

Commercial analysis: The court held that RDA Television LLP (RDA) was entitled to terminate its contract with European Processional Club Rugby (EPCR) as a result of the postponement of matches due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The court held that the contract provided for the matches to be arranged within the season and EPCR’s delay in hosting these matches entitled RDA to terminate the contract pursuant to its force majeure provisions. The decision turned on the court’s interpretation of the contract and will be of interest to both non-contentious and contentious practitioners. Written by Nicole Bollard, barrister at 3PB Barristers.

View from the bar on serving claim forms during coronavirus (COVID-19). Chris Bryden, 4 King’s Bench Walk CPR 6 sets out the rules relating to service of a claim form. By CPR 6.3, a claim form may be served personally, by first class post, document exchange or any other service which provides for delivery on the next business day, by leaving it in a place as specified in the part, by fax or other means of electronic communication or any method authorised by the court. CPR 6.14 provides that a claim form served within the UK in accordance with CPR 6 is deemed to be served on the second business day after completion of the relevant step under CPR 7.5(1). That rule provides that where the claim form is served within the jurisdiction, the claimant must complete the step required in the table contained within

There is an enterprise management incentives (EMI) commitment of working time requirement which must be satisfied by any employee in order to qualify to be granted an EMI share option. An employee is eligible for EMI purposes only if their average amount per week of ‘committed time’ equals or exceeds: • 25 hours a week (regardless of any other economic activity they also undertake), or • if less, 75% of their working time For further details on the EMI working time requirement, see Practice Note: EMI—what makes an employee eligible?—Working time requirement. If employees are furloughed,

A person appointed as a director of a company is an office-holder and is not, by virtue of that appointment alone, also an employee of the company. For employment law purposes, it will be a question of fact whether or not a director is an employee (or indeed a worker). See Practice Notes: • Office-holders—Directors • Employee status • Worker status Payments to directors are subject to PAYE deductions (see Practice Note: Scope of the PAYE system). The HMRC guidance for employers: Claim for your employees’ wages through the coronavirus job retention scheme was first published on 26 March 2020, and has since been updated on 4 April, 9 April and 15 April 2020. The government also published a Treasury Direction on 15 April. For information on the CJRS generally, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (original version to 30 June 2020) [Archived]. For information on the updates

The postal service is commonly used to effect service of a wide variety of notices under statutes. Notices frequently encountered by property disputes lawyers include those served under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) and the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925). Whether, and if so when, notices are served frequently affects parties’ substantive property rights. It may therefore be very important to understand how notices may be served if there were no effective Royal Mail service for a period of time for any reason (including as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19)). The first step will be to carefully assess both the instrument (for example a contract, deed or lease) under which the notice is to be served, and the statutory regime which applies to the notice. Separate statutes may govern the circumstances in which the notice

Tax analysis: In both City Blinds Scotland Ltd v HMRC and Complete Solutions Europe Ltd v HMRC, the First-tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) made decisions concerning the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS), ie the coronavirus furlough scheme. Both cases included detailed consideration of the calculation of the reference salary for the purpose of the CJRS.

The Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 (CR(C)A 2022) came into effect for the most part on 24 March 2022. It creates an arbitration process to resolve rent arrears that arose during lockdown, if landlords and tenants are not able to come to an agreement. It applies to a 'protected rent debt', defined in CR(C)A 2022, s 3 as a debt under a business tenancy consisting of unpaid protected rent. Protected rent is rent due under the tenancy where the tenancy was adversely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) (as defined in CR(C)A 2022, s 4) and the rent

This Q&A considers the practical considerations when serving a claim for in an EU Member State in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The service provisions were those applicable for service prior to IP completion day (31 December 2020) ie service under Regulation (EC) 1393/2007, the Service Regulation. For guidance on the position post that date, see Practice Note: Cross-border service—serving in an EU Member State. The first point to note is that service in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) 1393/2007, the Service Regulation is mandatory, and it is not possible to circumvent this procedure through an order for alternative service from the courts of this country, or by other means, see Hornan v Baillie. However, compelling the case for alternative service might be in the present circumstances, it is therefore simply not an option. Methods of service under

Insurance & Reinsurance analysis: What news from the world of coronavirus (COVID-19) Business Interruption Insurance? Well, since you ask, this is the latest in a string of decisions that inch their way towards working out who is entitled to how much under what policy terms in respect of the enormous business losses that were suffered during the coronavirus lockdowns in the UK. The court was here dealing with a common Prevention of Access (Non-Damage) wording providing cover for interference with the insured’s business in consequence of action ‘by the Police or other Statutory Authority’. The principal questions involved the application of policy limits, whether renewal of restrictions gave rise to a new claim, and whether insurers could deduct from the indemnity payments received under the furlough scheme. Written by Neil Hext KC, barrister at 4 New Square Chambers.

Where an employee wants to cancel a pre-arranged period of holiday, in the absence of a contractual right to do so, they will need their employer’s agreement. The Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833 do not give employees a statutory right to cancel a pre-arranged period of holiday, and it is unusual for holiday provisions in an employment contract, or a holiday policy, to allow for this. In most cases, therefore, it is likely to be down to the employer to decide whether or not to agree to the request. However, there are competing interests to consider, particularly in the context of coronavirus (COVID-19): on the one hand, an employee who has had a holiday cancelled because of coronavirus will want to save their holiday entitlement until such time as they are able to re-schedule

This Q&A assumes that the shares to be valued are in a private company. The basic rule is that the market value of unquoted shares or securities is the price which those assets might reasonably be expected to fetch on a sale in the open market between a hypothetical willing seller and a hypothetical willing buyer. The transaction is assumed to take place in the open market based on information which is available in the public domain, including published information and matters of genuine public knowledge. (see: HMRC Capital Gains Manual: CG59540) In these circumstances,