Viewpoints - Harbottle and Lewis

News type

12 December 2024

The UK’s data protection regulator publishes a new code of conduct for UK private investigators and litigation services

The UK’s data protection regulator publishes a new code of conduct for UK private investigators and litigation services On 13 November, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) approved and published a new sector-owned code of conduct – the Association of British…

15 November 2024

Unable to row the distance: No copyright in a rowing machine as a work of artistic craftsmanship (WaterRower v Liking)

After more than one year since trial, the long-awaited decision on whether a particular type of rowing machine is capable of copyright protection in England & Wales as a work of artistic craftsmanship came out earlier this week. The decision…

13 November 2024

The wait is over – Sky v SkyKick decision handed down today

After many years of proceedings, the long-waited trade mark case Sky v SkyKick has finally reached a decision at the Supreme Court today. The Judgment contains clear direction on when a trade mark has been registered in bad faith. Impact…

30 October 2024

Autumn Budget 2024: Headlines

Labour’s first Budget hopes to raise UK taxes by £40 billion. Highlights are as follows: Income Tax No increase. Threshold freeze will end from April 2028. National Insurance Contributions (NICs) No change to employee NICs. Threshold freeze will end from…

28 October 2024

The Final Word

We have all, at one time or another, walked away from an argument and all too late thought of the crushing blow we should have delivered; a comeback there would have been no coming back from. If only we had…

24 October 2024

The UK’s new Data (Use and Access) Bill has been introduced into Parliament

On 23 October, the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) introduced the new Data (Use and Access) Bill (DUA Bill) to Parliament. This featured in the King’s Speech on 17 July, when the new UK Labour Government announced…

11 October 2024

New reforms but a long wait for change: government publishes Employment Rights Bill draft

Yesterday the government published the draft Employment Rights Bill, just ahead of Labour’s first 100 days in power. Many extensive reforms were anticipated, but the Bill contains watered-down versions of the changes that were expected, and kicks their implementation into…

10 October 2024

The UK’s Data Protection Regulator begins its modernisation plans

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s data protection regulator and it announced on 09 October that from 11 of October, it will be piloting changes to the way it provides support to businesses. One of the first changes…

03 October 2024

A cautionary tale of lessons learnt in cases involving crypto fraud from D’Aloia v Persons Unknown Category A & Ors [2024]

The High Court in D’Aloia v Persons Unknown Category A & Ors [2024] EWHC 2342 (Ch) (full judgment available here), has recently dismissed claims brought by a Claimant, who was the object of a complex crypto based fraud, against Bitkub,…

02 October 2024

‘This is a true story’: A lesson learnt from ‘Baby Reindeer’ for shows dramatising the lives of real people

A judge in the United States has ruled that Fiona Harvey, the woman accused of stalking Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd, can continue her defamation claim against Netflix. Baby Reindeer portrays the experiences of Richard Gadd, its creator and star,…