IP analysis: The judgment contains a detailed analysis of the law on the margins of the question, ‘What kind of sign cannot constitute a trade mark?’ or, in positive terms, ‘What kind of sign can constitute a trade mark?’. That question arises from section 1(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA 1994), and Articles 2 and 3(1)(a) of Directive 89/104/EEC (‘the Directive’) and Articles 4 and 7(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 (‘the Regulation’), and their replacements. Ultimately, the appeal was dismissed on the basis that the judge at first instance had not erred in law or principle. She was entitled to come to the conclusions that she did on the matters appealed. However, the judgment of Lord Justice Arnold contains a detailed analysis of the relevant law and is likely to be a useful starting point for practitioners considering this fundamental question, and a handy omnibus authority to avoid over-citation. Written by Michael Smith, barrister at Three Stone Chambers.

Case study A tenant has been in occupation of a residential property for 24 years without a written tenancy agreement being in place. The rent has been paid and periodically verbally increased the last increase being five years ago on the basis the landlord verbally agreed not to increase it again. If the tenant moved into the property in 1992, the statutory scheme in place at that time was that of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988). See Practice Note: A summary of types of private residential tenancies. Under this scheme, the grant of a residential tenancy usually resulted in either a full ‘assured tenancy’ (if the statutory criteria were satisfied) or an ‘assured shorthold tenancy’ (if the relevant formalities for such a tenancy, including the service of a pre-tenancy notice) were met. In this scenario the level of informality

Law360: The Labour Party romped to victory on 4 July 2024 after campaigning under the slogan of 'Change', but the absence of any consideration of the legal sector in its election pledges has left lawyers hoping the new government will commit to maintaining the country's position as a leading disputes centre.

Law360, Expert Analysis: On 3 February 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a portfolio letter to the CEOs (Dear CEO) of payments firms supervised by it, setting out its priorities for those firms and the actions it expects them to take. Charlotte Hillpartner at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP outlines the details of the portfolio letter, the expectations on payments firms, and the steps that these companies and their advisers may now need to take.

In answering this Q&A, research has been limited to cover the rules governing succession to assets situated outside England & Wales. The UK tax issues that may arise from the scenario described in this Q&A have not been considered. It has been assumed: • the Testator was domiciled in England & Wales on death • the Will has been validly executed under the

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets out the possible bases for lawful processing in Article 6 for ordinary personal data and Article 9 for special category personal data. The lawful grounds for processing personal data under the GDPR: Article 6 There are six potentially lawful grounds for processing personal data also known as the legitimate grounds or conditions for processing: • consent—the data subject has given consent to the processing of their personal data for one or more specific purposes • contractual necessity—processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party or to take steps at the request of the data subject before entering into a contract • legal obligation—processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which you are a subject • vital interest—processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person • public interest—processing

This Q&A is limited to the lawful grounds for processing of personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), which implements provisions related to and permitted derogations from the GDPR into UK law. We have not addressed the requirements for processing special categories of personal data. Lawful basis for processing A controller can only lawfully process personal data in compliance with the lawfulness, fairness and transparency principle under Article 5(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the GDPR if it satisfies at least one of the conditions set out in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the GDPR. These are commonly known as the ‘lawful grounds’,

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation (EU) 2016/679, regulates the processing of personal data and is relevant in the context of a migration of email infrastructure to the cloud. However, the GDPR is largely technology-neutral and deals with the processing of personal data generally, rather than focusing on any specific technology (such as an email server or mailbox)

If services are provided in the absence of a written contract, the court will seek to determine whether a contract exists for the performance of which the supplier should be paid. The court could either find: (i) that a contract exists under which the supplier must be paid; or (ii) that no contract exists but the law of restitution may apply. In order to determine whether a contract exists, the court would apply the classic principles of contract formation: offer and acceptance; consideration; intention to create legal relations and certainty, by examining the behaviour of the parties and any communication between them both before and after the provision of the services in question. See Practice Notes: • Forming enforceable contracts—offer • Forming enforceable contracts—acceptance • Forming enforceable contracts—consideration • Forming enforceable contracts—intention to create legal relations

Where a person directs animals onto another’s land, they commit the tort of trespass. Depending on the circumstances, they may also (or alternatively) commit other torts such as negligence, nuisance, or under the rule in Fletcher v Rylands. See Commentary: Trespass: Tort: The Law of Tort (Common Law

A protected disclosure involves a worker making: • a disclosure of information • which is a qualifying disclosure, and • is made in one of the protected manners For further information, see Practice Note: Whistleblowing—protected disclosures. In order for a disclosure to amount to a qualifying disclosure: • its subject matter must be within the scope of the protection: the disclosure must make one of certain specified types of allegation of wrongdoing—for further information, see Practice Note: Whistleblowing—protected disclosures — Relevant types of wrongdoing • the worker must reasonably believe that the disclosure tends to show one or more of those specific types of wrongdoing—for further information, see Practice Note: Whistleblowing—protected disclosures — Necessary belief

For the purpose of answering this Q&A, we have assumed: • the question refers to a database (or part of a database) that may include personal data for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998), but not sensitive personal data • the data will not be used for any marketing purposes or activities, and • the question relates to the position under the law of England and Wales and data exclusively subject to the law and regulation in that jurisdiction. We have also assumed that no data will be transferred outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) (see Practice Note: International transfers of personal data under the DPA 1998 [Archived]) In conducting our research we have focussed on the position under current law under the DPA 1998 and accordingly we have not commented on the position under the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation (EU)