Law360, London: A London judge ruled on 18 July 2025 that the designer of the ‘Notting Hill Shopping Bag’ tote couldn't claim infringement against a rival in the famous London neighbourhood because the trade mark had expired.

Nottinghamshire County Council has issued a pre-action letter seeking clarification from the Secretary of State about the government’s decision on local government reorganisation (LGR) in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire before deciding whether to pursue judicial review. The council has raised concerns about the lawfulness of the decision-making process and the basis on which the Secretary of State reached the preferred option, after its earlier request for the reasoning and supporting evidence was refused. Announced on 16 July 2026, the proposal would replace the nine existing city, county, district and borough councils with two single-tier unitary authorities. Greater Nottingham Council would cover the existing Nottingham city area and specified wards in Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe, while Nottinghamshire Council would cover Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood and the remaining specified wards in those three districts. Councillor Mick Barton, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, has informed the chief executives of the other eight affected councils of the action. Ministers are preparing a Structural Changes Order to establish the new authorities, and the county council remains committed to maintaining constructive relationships with the parties involved and implementing the reorganisation programme, led by its chief executive, Adrian Smith, as senior responsible officer.

For the purposes of this Q&A, the action in question is assumed to be one commenced and otherwise governed by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). It is important first to note that there is no official ‘court record’ which a solicitor acting for a party is ‘on’ or otherwise comes ‘off’. While it is a time-honoured expression, it is not an expression found in the law. Instead, the starting point is that when an action, ie proceedings, are commenced by the issue of a claim form (either by CPR 7 or CPR 8), every party to it must give an address for service. The claimant must provide an address for service on the claim form (CPR PD 7A, para 3.1 and see Form N1 (CPR 7), Form N208 (CPR 8) and CPR PD 16, para 2). If the claimant is legally represented by a solicitor,

Section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 (DPA 1972) applies where premises are let under a tenancy which puts on the landlord an obligation to the tenant for the maintenance or repair of the premises. If the landlord is obligated under the lease to repair the premises or has an implied reservation of a right of entry so as to bring into operation DPA 1972, s 4, and the wall is part of the premises, then the landlord would be liable. The 'premises' referred to in DPA 1972 are the parcels of the demise and include ancillary parts of the property. The landlord is liable for parts of the building which are necessary for the convenience of all tenants and which the landlord is

Novation is the method by which the parties to an existing contract 'transfer' the rights and obligations of that contract to a third party. Novation is not strictly a transfer of rights and obligations but a discharge of the rights and obligations between contracting parties and a recreation of them with a third party (replacing an original contracting party) and one (or more) of the contracting parties to the original contract. A novation requires consideration and consent.

This Agreement is [made on [date] OR delivered on [date]]. Parties 1 [Insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [Scotland] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Outgoing Party); and 2 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [Scotland] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Incoming Party); and 3 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [Scotland] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Remaining Party), each of the Outgoing Party, Incoming Party and Remaining Party being a party and together the Outgoing Party, Incoming Party and Remaining Party are the parties. BACKGROUND (A) The Outgoing Party wishes to transfer, by way of novation, its rights and obligations under the Original Contract (as defined below) to the Incoming Party, in accordance with this Agreement. (B) The Outgoing Party wishes to be released and discharged from its[ future] obligations and liabilities under the Original Contract. (C) The Remaining Party agrees to release and discharge the Outgoing Party from

This Agreement is made on [date] Parties 1 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Outgoing Party); and 2 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Incoming Party); and 3 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Remaining Party), each of the Outgoing Party, Incoming Party and Remaining Party being a party and together the Outgoing Party, Incoming Party and Remaining Party are the parties. BACKGROUND (A) The Outgoing Party wishes to transfer, by way of novation, its rights and obligations under the Original Contract (as defined below) to the Incoming Party, in accordance with this Agreement. (B) The Outgoing Party wishes to be released and discharged from its[ future] obligations and liabilities under the Original Contract. (C) The Remaining Party agrees to release and discharge the Outgoing Party from its[ future]

This Agreement is made on [date] Parties 1 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Outgoing Party); and 2 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Incoming Party); and 3 [insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Remaining Party), each of the Outgoing Party, Incoming Party and Remaining Party being a party and together the Outgoing Party, Incoming Party and Remaining Party are the parties. BACKGROUND (A) The Outgoing Party wishes to transfer, by way of novation, its rights and obligations under the Original Contract (as defined below) to the Incoming Party, in accordance with this Agreement. (B) The Outgoing Party wishes to be released and discharged from its future obligations and liabilities under the Original Contract. (C) The Remaining Party agrees to release and discharge

What is novation? Novation is the transfer of one party’s rights and obligations under a contract to a third party. Novation effectively substitutes a contracting party (the ‘outgoing party’) with a new party (the ‘incoming party’) and, in legal terms, it amounts to the extinguishing of the original contract and the creation of a new contract under which the same obligations are to be performed, but by different parties. Novation must be distinguished from assignment—assignment only permits the benefits of a contract to be transferred, whereas novation allows both the benefit and the burden to be transferred to the incoming third party. Benefits of a contract include the right to performance of that contract; burdens include contractual obligations such as the duty to perform the obligations and to make payments under the contract. See Practice Notes: Assignment in construction contracts and Legal and equitable assignment in construction contracts. Novation in the construction industry Novation is most commonly used in construction projects in the following circumstances: • transfer of design consultants’ appointments from the employer to a design and build

When drafting or negotiating a deed of novation in the context of a design and build construction project where a consultant is being novated from the employer to the contractor (see Practice Note: Novation in construction projects), the following should be taken into account: • Consideration Is there consideration for the novation? If not, or if it is unclear whether there will be, the novation agreement should be executed as a deed. • Underlying agreement The deed of novation should set out details of the original, underlying agreement under which the consultant was appointed as well as brief details of the services that they were appointed to perform. • Declaration of novation The deed of novation should state (usually in the recitals) that the consultant and the old employer have agreed to the novation of the underlying agreement to the new employer (ie the contractor) on the terms set out in the deed of novation. • Creation of new contract Check that the deed of novation deals with the two essential stages of novation needed

Commercial analysis: The High Court has found in Magee and others v Crocker that a shareholders’ agreement was novated by conduct, even though the parties had not consented in writing and there were clauses in the agreement preventing assignment without such consent, or oral variations or waivers. This is a reminder that parties’ contractual rights and obligations can be extinguished or created by novation, notwithstanding express contractual provision that might be thought to prevent that situation arising or the absence of any express intent to bring it about. Written by Jonathan Swil, partner, and Adriana Pastuszek, trainee, both at A&O Shearman.

There may be times when, rather than assigning the benefit of an agreement to a third party, the original parties wish instead to end their obligations to each other under that agreement and, in effect, recreate it, with the third party stepping into the shoes of one of the original parties. This is the common form of novation. When advising a client, you should be aware of the requirements for a valid novation and the consequences for the incoming party and the outgoing novation party when a novation takes place, which may be possible to avoid at the time of drafting the novation. A Precedent: Novation agreement—long form is provided. For a practical guide on novating commercial contracts with links to relevant precedents, see Practice Note: How to novate a contract. For the purposes of this Practice Note, the parties to the novation are known as: • remaining party—(A) • outgoing party—(B) • incoming party—(C) What is novation of a contract? Novation occurs when A and B are party to