The Intellectual Property Office, HMRC and Border Force have published the UK Customs Intellectual Property Enforcement Report 2021–2023, setting a new annual transparency baseline on border seizures and confirming that over £500m (expected retail value) of counterfeit goods were intercepted at UK borders, with most items destroyed. The report shows trade marks remain the dominant infringement (74% in 2023), a shift to higher-value but lower-volume seizures, and consistent provenance from China, Hong Kong SAR and Türkiye; it also notes that since 1 January 2021 rights holders must lodge separate UK Applications for Action (AFAs) (with ex officio AFAs required within four working days where no prior AFA exists). The measures affect brand owners, importers, enforcement partners and consumers across the UK and aim to disrupt organised IP crime and improve public safety; the data will now be published annually.

Law360, London: The cost of buying cyber-insurance for the public sector and critical infrastructure could rise significantly because of a proposed ban on paying ransomware demands, experts warn, as the UK government looks at ways to disrupt the income of online criminals.

On 27 June 2024 the UK deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (2019 Judgments Convention). The 2019 Judgments Convention will enter into force for the UK on 1 July 2025 and will mark 30 Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) members who are either bound by the 2019 Judgments Convention or a contracting party for which the Convention has not yet entered into force. The United Kingdom has been a member of the HCCH since 1955 and is now a contracting party to 14 HCCH Conventions.

A UK property investment company conducting rental business (commercial or residential). The UK REIT is designed as a vehicle exempt from corporation tax on its rental income and related gains but required to distribute the great majority of its property income to its investors, applying a withholding tax on distributions to most categories of investors. To qualify as a REIT, there are a range of conditions and tests that apply to both single company UK REITs and UK group REITs.

The MHRA have updated a suite of guidance in support of its Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) that aims to accelerate medicine approvals to market. ILAP was expanded from 2025 to include drug-device combination products and enhanced with exclusive opportunities such as Joint Scientific Advice and the ILAP Access Forum following its initial success. The guidance has been updated to cover the refreshed ILAP and includes a simpler roadmap, more predictable timelines and has improved the clarity of criterion 4 and selection criteria assessment.

Law360, London: UK nationals facing extradition to the US have traditionally found themselves atop a greased slide, their extradition virtually assured. That changed in February 2025 when the UK Supreme Court overturned long-held precedent to deny a US extradition request for trader Joseph El-Khouri in El-Khouri v Government of the United States of America [2025] UKSC 3.

Forthcoming Change—reform of the UK AIFM regime On 14 July 2026, HM Treasury and the FCA published a co-ordinated package of proposals to reform the UK AIFM regime, including draft regulations to replace the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Regulations 2013 and FCA proposals in CP26/28 for a proportionate three-tier regime for small, medium and large AIFMs; related consultations cover fund reporting and remuneration. Subject to consultation responses, HM Treasury expects to lay the legislation and the FCA aims to publish final Handbook rules in 2027, with implementation of the reformed AIFM and asset management reporting regimes planned for 2028. For more information, see Practice Note: Developments in the regulation of UK investment funds and asset management—Reform of the UK AIFM regime. This Practice Note explores the UK regime for marketing alternative investment funds (AIFs) under Part 6 of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Regulations 2013, SI 2013/1773 (the AIFM Regulations 2013), including the rights and regulatory requirements applying to an alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) marketing an AIF in the

ARCHIVED: This Precedent has been archived and is not maintained, it provides background information only. This DEED of agreement is made on [insert 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] (Franchisor); 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] (Developer); and (each of the Franchisor and the Developer being a party and together the Franchisor and the Developer are the parties). Background: (A) The Franchisor has developed the Method and the Business. (B) The Franchisor [has applied to register OR is the registered proprietor of OR owns OR has the right to sub-license] the Trade Marks. (C) The Franchisor wishes to expand its franchise network and is therefore willing to appoint the Developer to run the Development Business in the Territory. (D) The Developer wishes, and is able, to accept such appointment. The parties agree: 1 Definitions and interpretation 1.1 In this Agreement: [Adverse Change of Law • means the adoption, promulgation, modification or reinterpretation

What design protection is available in the UK? Design rights protect the shape, configuration or appearance of the whole or part of a product or article (rather than its functional aspects). Design law is intended to stop other people making products which are made to the design of or create the same overall impression as the original design. The design rights available in the UK are as follows: • UK registered designs (including re-registered designs and re-registered international designs), governed by the Registered Designs Act 1949 (RDA 1949) • UK unregistered design right (also known as design right), governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) • supplementary unregistered design right (SUD), governed by Assimilated Regulation (EU) 6/2002 and the Community Design Regulations 2005, SI 2005/2339 Each of the above rights differs in terms of qualifying criteria, scope and duration of protection. For more information, see Practice Note: Comparison tables for design protection available in the UK. There is also an overlap between copyright and design right protection. For more information about

UK registered designs are governed by the Registered Designs Act 1949. They protect the appearance of the whole or part of a product resulting from the lines/contours, colours, shape, textures/materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation. The design must be new and have individual character. There are certain exclusions from protection, including features dictated by technical function, features dictated by the need to interconnect with another product, designs that are contrary to public policy or morality, and certain emblems. A registration gives the proprietor the exclusive right to use the design, which means that it prevents reproduction and not merely copying. Protection lasts for five years from registration, renewable every five years to a maximum of 25. Following Brexit, the UK is no longer part of the Community designs system which provides an EU-wide registration called the registered Community design (RCD) (which is broadly the same in scope as a UK registered design, save for the territory covered). However, pursuant to the Designs and International Trade Marks (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/638, provision was made for the holders of RCDs in existence as at IP completion day (31 December 2020) to automatically become holders of comparable UK registrations, called ‘re-registered designs’.

A regulated market which is a recognised investment exchange under FSMA 2000, s 285 but not an overseas investment exchange within the meaning of FSMA 2000, s 313(1). Definition from Article 2(1)(13A), Retained Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 (mifir'>UK MiFIR). The Main Market is a UK regulated market.

Scope of this Practice Note A central bank digital currency (CBDC) uses an electronic record or digital token to represent the virtual form of a fiat currency of a particular nation (or region). A CBDC is centralised as it is issued and regulated by the competent monetary authority of the country. A CBDC would make electronic money, issued by a country’s central bank, available to all households and businesses. This would allow everyone to make electronic payments in central bank money. This Practice Note focuses on the work carried out by UK authorities towards the establishment of a CBDC (referred to by the UK regulators as a ‘digital pound’). UK proposals for a digital pound Bank of England speeches and papers in relation to CBDCs The Bank of England (BoE) has been actively engaged in the discussions and research on CBDCs. In a speech delivered by BoE deputy governor for monetary policy Ben Broadbent. In his speech, Mr Broadbent discussed the potential characteristics of a future central bank-issued digital currency (CBDC), as well as the impact this issuance could have on