Business Diary: UK Regulations - July 2016
Currently, two to three new Regulation entries are added to the Archive each day. Regulation Watch covers business related topics such as new legislation, changes in legislation, consultations and regulatory body announcements.
1st
Rates & Reliefs
Rate Change: The Intellectual Property Office has updated the fee structure for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications, effective from 1 July 2016.
Published Date: 8th June 2016
Rates & Reliefs
Rate Change: The European Patent Office has increased the amount of examination fee refund patent applicants can receive when they withdraw an application from 75% to 100%, as of 1 July 2016.
Start Date: 1st July 2016
Regulator Services
IP Services: The UK Intellectual Property Office and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China will extend their Patent Prosecution Highway pilot programme indefinitely as from 1 July 2016.
Start Date: 1st July 2016
Regulator Services
IP Services: The European Patent Office and Australia’s intellectual property office have launched a Patent Prosecution Highway programme as of 1 July 2016.
Start Date: 1st July 2016
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: The High Court has ruled that software suppliers can be forced to pay compensation to self-employed intermediaries they contract with to promote their products, as software can be considered goods for the purposes of the UK commercial agents regulations.
Ruling Date: 1st July 2016
5th
Business Laws
New Regulation: New legislation which will, amongst other things, guarantee consumers the right to fast broadband and introduce tougher penalties for nuisance callers has been introduced to Parliament.
Published Date: 5th July 2016
Legal Statistics
Regulator Statistics: The Home Office issued 1,217 penalties, equivalent to £21.6 million, to businesses for hiring illegal workers in the second half of 2015.
Published Date: 5th July 2016
6th
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: The Supreme Court has ruled that the sole director of an insolvent Scottish company was not liable in damages for an employee's injury, despite failing to ensure that adequate employers' liability insurance was in place.
Ruling Date: 6th July 2016
Regulator Services
Licensing Services: The Security Industry Authority has announced that individuals and businesses will be able to register for online accounts and access online licensing services as of 6 July 2016.
Start Date: 6th July 2016
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The EU Parliament has approved a proposal to simplify the current labelling system for energy-efficient household appliances.
Published Date: 6th July 2016
Compliance Guidance
UK Ruling: The Court of Appeal has issued a ruling upholding injunctions requiring five major internet service providers to block consumer access to websites marketing counterfeit goods and infringing trademarks.
Ruling Date: 6th July 2016
Regulation Consultations
Insolvency Consultation: The government is seeking views on proposals for setting up an insolvency regime for further education institutions and sixth-form colleges. The proposals include a Special Administration Regime, giving extra protection to ensure continuity of service.
Response Deadline: 5th August 2016
7th
Court Rulings
EU Ruling: The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that businesses that that licence the use of patented technology can be forced to continue paying royalties to licensors even after the revocation of the patents in question or in the absence of any infringement.
Ruling Date: 7th July 2016
8th
Regulation Consultations
Regulator Activity: The Competition and Markets Authority is seeking views on ways to improve competition in legal services by increasing information on price and quality after its interim report found that just 17% of service providers publish their prices online.
Response Deadline: 19th August 2016
EU Laws
EU Regulation: A new framework to help businesses transfer personal data from the EU to the US in line with EU data protection laws has been approved by the 28 member states.
Published Date: 8th July 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: A UK SME, which is a subsidiary of a US company, has agreed to pay financial orders of more than £6 million for corruption and bribery offences, in the Serious Fraud Office’s second deferred prosecution agreement.
Published Date: 8th July 2016
12th
EU Laws
Regulator Activity: The EU Commission launched the EU-US Privacy Shield with immediate effect on 12 July 2016 and US companies will be able to certify with the Commerce Department from 1 August 2016.
Start Date: 12th July 2016
Regulator Services
Regulator Activity: The European Union Intellectual Property Office has joined forces with Europol to launch the Intellectual Property Crime Coordinated Coalition, which aims to tackle online intellectual property crime.
Published Date: 12th July 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Warning: The Home Office has warned organisations employing non-EU workers to start the process of renewing their sponsorship licence from August 2016 if they want to continue employing migrant workers. New rules from July 12 2016 also give authorities more powers to close premises employing migrants illegally.
Implementation Deadline: 12th July 2016
Compliance Guidance
Law Guide: The Home Office has updated its guidance for employers on illegal working checks to include information on the new illegal working offences introduced by the Immigration Act 2016 on 12 July 2016.
Published Date: 12th July 2016
13th
Court Rulings
EU Ruling: A workplace ban which prevents Muslim employees from wearing headscarves when in contact with clients constitutes direct discrimination, according to the Advocate General for the European Court of Justice.
Published Date: 13th July 2016
14th
Compliance Guidance
Law Guide: The Information Commissioner's Office has issued new guidance urging organisations to implement an "internal breach reporting procedure" ahead of the new EU data protection laws.
Published Date: 14th July 2016
15th
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: A recent judgement from the Scottish Court of Session, which overturned the Land Court's decision that effective notice under agricultural holdings law had been given even though it was sent to a director of the landlord company rather than the landlord at its registered office, highlights the need for strict compliance with the terms of a statutory notice or one set out in a lease or contract, according to a legal expert.
Ruling Date: 15th July 2016
18th
Regulator Services
Export Services: A new join unit to provide coordinated cross-government operation of export controls began operating on 18 July 2016.
Published Date: 18th July 2016
19th
Court Rulings
EU Ruling: Telecoms companies can be compelled to store data pertaining to customer communications only if it is "strictly necessary in the fight against serious crime", according to the Advocate General for the European Court of Justice.
Published Date: 19th July 2016
20th
Compliance Guidance
Law Guide: The government has updated its guidance on how the scheme to name and shame employers that violate the National Minimum Wage rules operates to reflect HMRC's new complaints handling process and the introduction of the new Director of Labour Market Enforcement regime.
Published Date: 20th July 2016
Regulation Consultations
EU Consultation: The EU Commission has launched a consultation on the revision of EU regulations setting out CO2 emission performance standards for light duty vehicles such as cars and vans.
Response Deadline: 28th October 2016
21st
Compliance Guidance
Contract Law Guide: The Law Society and the City of London Law Society have published updated guidance on the execution of commercial contracts using electronic signatures.
Published Date: 21st July 2016
Court Rulings
EU Ruling: The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that companies can be held liable for anti-competitive practices of a service provider, subject to certain circumstances.
Ruling Date: 21st July 2016
Business Laws
Government Activity: The Pubs Code, which aims to ensure more rights and greater protection for tenants when dealing with large pub companies that own tied pubs, came into force on 21 July 2016.
Start Date: 21st July 2016
Rates & Reliefs
Rate Change: Changes to the Insolvency Service's fees charged to apply for bankruptcy and company insolvency will come into force from 21 July 2016.
Start Date: 21st July 2016
22nd
Compliance Guidance
Regulator Activity: All businesses should be subject to the requirement to obtain device users' consent to gather and use their traffic and location data, according to an opinion issued by the European Data Protection Supervisor.
Published Date: 22nd July 2016
Business Laws
New Regulation: New legislation which will transpose EU rules on electronic identification and trust services into UK law has been laid before Parliament and is scheduled to come into force on 22 July 2016.
Start Date: 22nd July 2016
26th
Compliance Guidance
Law Guide: The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has updated its guidance on how to get e-cigarette products on the UK market.
Published Date: 26th July 2016
27th
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: The Supreme Court has ruled that money which an agent personally owed to its principal at the point the former became insolvent is not held on constructive trust for the principal, instead forming part of the assets of the insolvent business to be divided up between all creditors in a proportionate way.
Ruling Date: 27th July 2016
Business Laws
Sector Reforms: This new scheme, to be rolled out over the next 12 months, will allow all farmers to be able to move their animals around any land they have registered and are using within a 10-mile radius under a single County Parish Holding number without the need for reporting, or standstills.
Legislation Ending: 31st July 2017
28th
Regulator Services
Legal Services: UK-based Lexoo and US-based Priori Legal have published the world's first legal price index in response to concerns raised by the Competition and Markets Authority that few legal-services providers publish their prices online.
Published Date: 28th July 2016
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The Court of Appeal has asked the EU's highest court to help it resolve a dispute over a pension saver's minimum pension entitlements in a case where his former employer became insolvent.
Ruling Date: 28th July 2016
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that businesses based in an EU member state will not necessarily be subject to the data protection laws of another member state in which consumers it sells to are based "merely" because they have a website that is accessible in that country.
Ruling Date: 28th July 2016
31st
Regulatory Deadlines
Return Deadline: Operators with environmental permits submitting waste returns for Q2 2016 must do so by 31 July 2016.
Submission Deadline: 31st July 2016
