High Court: Chancery Division judgments, 2004

Copyright protects discrete artistic works, not general design themes, styles, formats or ideas. A claimant must identify the particular work said to have been…

For succession to an assured tenancy, a person in a same-sex relationship may qualify as a spouse where the relationship is sufficiently marriage-like. The…

Unregistered design right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 gives genuine, time-limited protection to original designs, including spare parts.…

For the purposes of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, s 382, failure by a regulated firm to comply with final and binding PIA Ombudsman awards may…

Information is not confidential merely because it is supplied in confidence. A breach of confidence claim requires private or confidential information and…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction requires the claimant to establish three matters: a cause of action with a reasonable prospect of…

A creditor may apply for an administration order where it has a presently enforceable debt, even if contractual arrangements also contemplate longer-term or…

On an application under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925, the established practice that the applicant pays the costs of investigating restrictive…

Whether an agreement creates a tenancy or a licence depends on the substantive rights and obligations it confers, rather than the labels used by the parties.…

Presentation of a winding-up petition may be restrained where the alleged debtor has a bona fide and substantial cross-claim exceeding the petition debt. The…

A first-instance judge generally has no jurisdiction to vary or revoke an order made by another judge once it has been passed and entered, subject to…

An arbitration clause in a partnership agreement should generally be construed commercially to give effect to its evident purpose. A literal definition of…

Where a pension scheme deed gives trustees power to require employer contributions which they consider appropriate after actuarial advice, that power may…

For a contractual deposit to be forfeited under a clause requiring the buyer to have failed to enter into a specified contract, the relevant contract must…

Restrictive covenants imposed on land conveyed for public educational purposes may benefit the statutory successors of the original housing authority where the…

After proceedings in open court have ended, the High Court retains jurisdiction under Civil Procedure Rules rule 5.4(5)(b) to permit a non-party to obtain…

A sporting disciplinary body exercising contractual powers must conduct its proceedings fairly. The civil burden of proof applies unless the governing rules…

Where interdependent corporate documents are executed as part of one transaction, they should be construed together and by reference to one another. A…

When reviewing a trustee’s proposed exercise of discretion, the court asks whether a reasonable trustee, properly directed on the material before them, could…

An appellate court should interfere with a tribunal’s discretionary costs decision only where it is legally erroneous, unreasonable or perverse. A tribunal may…

In sanctioning an insurance business transfer scheme, the court must decide whether sanction is appropriate in all the circumstances. Fairness is assessed by…

Victims who establish a proprietary claim may trace misappropriated or mistakenly paid money through a mixed correspondent bank account. A payment made for a…

For the purposes of the Insolvency Act 1986, a person may enter into a transaction by participating in a composite arrangement, even where individual transfers…

At the convening stage of a scheme, the court may determine a jurisdictional issue which would make later sanction impossible, but should not decide the…

Medical confidentiality does not prevent a doctor from disclosing relevant confidential medical material to his solicitor where the disclosure is necessary to…

A shareholder cannot recover a diminution in share value where the alleged loss is not a loss of the company or shareholder recognised on the pleaded case.…

Under rule 31(3) of the Trade Marks Rules 2000, the Registrar has a discretion whether to treat a proprietor’s opposition to a revocation application as…

An arbitration agreement expressed in wide terms will ordinarily cover disputes concerning breach of a contractual audit or information right. A restriction of…

Where domestic VAT legislation does not properly implement the public-authority exemption in article 4.5 of the Sixth Directive, a local authority may rely…

A communication is protected by without prejudice privilege where, viewed objectively in its context, it was bona fide intended to form part of or promote…

Comparative advertising is permissible where the comparison is objectively fair and the competitor’s mark is used in accordance with honest practices. The…

An alleged oral joint venture agreement is not binding where the parties remain in negotiation about essential financial, management, funding and security…

The restrictions governing an access request under the Data Protection Act 1998 do not generally prevent disclosure in separate proceedings alleging breach of…

Whether a charitable activity is a business for VAT purposes depends on its intrinsic economic nature, not simply on the charity’s status, the charging of…

When choosing between competing nominees for appointment as administrators, the court must assess which appointment best serves the administration. A creditor…

When trustees seek directions about voting on a restructuring proposal, the court must not substitute its own decision for theirs. The court must ask whether…

For VAT relief on a residential conversion, the relevant question is whether the converted building or part was previously non-residential and whether the…

Summary judgment requires the applicant to show that the opposing party has no real prospect of success and that no other compelling reason requires a trial. A…

An expert witness owes an overriding duty to assist the court with independent, objective and unbiased evidence. That duty is reinforced by CPR 35 and is not…

Costs normally follow the event, but the court may depart from that rule in exceptional circumstances. Where a litigant raises a serious capacity issue, fails…

Contractual rights are determined primarily from the language used, read in its factual and commercial context. Background may inform construction, but it…

A transaction between parties in a relationship of trust and confidence gives rise to presumed undue influence where it confers a sufficiently serious…

An arbitrator may use expert knowledge and deploy evidence in a different way from the parties’ experts, provided the approach remains within the matters…

Under the IR35 legislation, the court must construct the hypothetical direct contract required by the legislation from all relevant contractual arrangements…

On an appeal from a detailed costs assessment, overall proportionality is a preliminary judgment regulating the method of assessment. The costs judge first…

The construction of an easement depends on the words of the grant read with the relevant surrounding circumstances. A right of way expressed to extend along…

A person who knows of a court order cannot deliberately obstruct its execution or direct another person to do so. A non-party may be liable for contempt where…

Permission to amend pleadings should generally be granted where the amendment enables the real dispute to be determined, provided prejudice can be compensated…

When determining the terms of a protected business tenancy, the court must balance the landlord’s redevelopment objectives against the tenant’s need for…

A winding-up petition is inappropriate where the company has a genuine and substantial dispute about the alleged excise-duty debt. The court may also refuse a…

A police power to retain property is not unfettered. The justification for seizure and the justification for continued retention must be distinguished. Under…

On an appeal from a bankruptcy possession and sale order, the statutory presumption that creditors’ interests outweigh other considerations after the specified…

A voluntary transaction may be set aside in equity where the disponor makes a serious mistake about its legal effect, whether the mistake is one of law or…

Indemnity costs require conduct by the paying party that is improper or unreasonable in a material sense. A party is entitled to take a reasonable period to…

Costs are discretionary and must be determined by having regard to all the circumstances. Although costs generally follow the event, the court may adjust the…

At the interim stage, signage rights granted under a contractual licence may need to be construed alongside a related provision requiring consent not to be…

In a claim to set aside lifetime gifts, a rebuttable evidential presumption of undue influence arises where the donor placed trust and confidence in the donee…

For service out and third-party proceedings, a person may be a necessary or proper party where the claims involve a connected investigation, even though the…

A gratuitous assurance of lifelong occupation can give rise to a constructive trust where the claimant acts in reliance on it and it would be unconscionable…

Mental capacity is issue-specific. The court must assess whether the person can understand the issues requiring decisions, with appropriate assistance, rather…

Copyright in a computer program protects the program’s expression, not its functionality, programming language or the ideas and principles underlying its…

A power in a pension scheme to adjust benefits to secure continued solvency may extend to pensions already in payment and may permit different reductions for…

In patent litigation, costs should ordinarily reflect the outcome of distinct issues rather than simply follow the overall result. Under Civil Procedure Rules…

In assessing obviousness, the court must identify the inventive concept, determine the common general knowledge of the skilled addressee, identify the…

A claim should be struck out only where procedural failures justify that extreme sanction and prevent a fair trial. Defective disclosure that has been cured…

Service out of the jurisdiction may be permitted where an existing claim raises a real issue and the foreign defendant is a necessary or proper party to…

On an appeal from a determination of the Pensions Ombudsman, compensation for maladministration requires proof that the maladministration caused the claimed…

Implied consent to the placing of trade-marked goods on the market in the EEA requires facts and circumstances that unequivocally demonstrate the proprietor’s…

Unused relief under Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 forms an aggregate available pot for later years, subject to statutory ordering rules. Where…

A variation of the contractual arrangements between a creditor and principal debtor may discharge a guarantor where it alters the guarantor’s position to his…

A claim for damages arising from a Member State’s continuing failure to implement a Community law obligation is founded on tort where the obligation operates…

The power to rescind a winding-up order is discretionary. It is normally exercised only where circumstances have changed since the order, or where fresh…

A contractual dispute-resolution clause may create a binding arbitration agreement even where earlier stages, such as internal review and review, are optional.…

A patent claim must be interpreted objectively through the eyes of the skilled addressee, read as a whole and in accordance with the Protocol on the…

On an interlocutory application to enforce employee restrictive covenants, the court must determine whether there is a serious question to be tried, whether…

On an application to dismiss a liquidator’s claim summarily, the court should not determine disputed valuation and commercial-benefit issues unless the claim…

Qualification as a non-profit-making organisation for VAT purposes depends on the organisation’s substantive aims and commercial character, not merely on a…

A solicitor retained for a commercial property transaction must understand the effect of the documents being negotiated and, where the circumstances require…

Exclusive jurisdiction provisions concerning companies and public registers prevail over contractual jurisdiction clauses where the proceedings concern the…

A court may permit a summary judgment application before determining an outstanding challenge to its jurisdiction, but that power should be exercised only…

A mortgage deed forged by one co-owner remains effective as an equitable mortgage over that co-owner’s beneficial interest, although it cannot bind the…

Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, a transient copy of copyright material held in a RAM chip may be an infringing copy. The relevant question…

The applicability of related-property provisions is a question of statutory construction that may be decided by the Special Commissioners. Where those…

An intervention challenge under the Solicitors Act 1974 may be summarily dismissed where the evidence gives the Law Society reason to suspect dishonesty and…

Permission to commence proceedings against a company in administration is exceptional where the proposed claim is purely monetary. The applicant must justify…

A lease assignment may pass the benefit of a break clause even where the assignment does not mention it. Section 63 of the Law of Property Act 1925 supplies…

Administrators may take lawful steps that prevent a substantial future liability from arising where doing so is in the clear interests of the general body of…

A will is validly executed only if the statutory formalities are strictly proved. The attesting witnesses need not know that the document is a will, but they…

A breakdown in the relationship between participants in a quasi-partnership company does not, by itself, establish unfair prejudice. Relief may nevertheless be…

For an interlocutory injunction, the claimant must show a real issue to be tried; the claim must be more than fanciful. The court then assesses the balance of…

On an appeal by way of review from a Trade Mark Hearing Officer, the appellate court should not substitute its view for an experienced decision-maker’s…

For relief in respect of a guaranteed loan, the statutory inquiry concerns the use made of the money lent, rather than merely the borrower’s purpose in…

A jurisdiction agreement under article 23(1) of the Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 gives the chosen court jurisdiction over contractual claims and…

A producer’s oral agreement may be limited to the financial terms governing projects undertaken for a production company. Exclusivity and obligations to accept…

Permission to amend an application should generally be granted where the proposed case is properly arguable and any prejudice can be compensated in costs. The…

A performing edition of an earlier musical composition may attract copyright even where it introduces little or no new melody. The question is whether the…

For VAT purposes, genuine contractual arrangements cannot be disregarded merely because they were introduced to mitigate tax or involve steps which were…

A legal aid certificate cannot ordinarily cover more than one originating process. The restriction in regulation 46(3) of the Civil Legal Aid (General)…

Trade mark validity and infringement are distinct inquiries. A mark must be assessed as a whole, by reference to the goods or services and the perceptions of…

A way of necessity may arise by implied reservation where a transfer leaves retained land inaccessible, even though access could theoretically be obtained by…

A claimant seeking damages for loss of a chance must establish a real or substantial chance of obtaining the benefit, rather than a merely speculative…

A landlord receiving a notice claiming the right to buy must decide within the statutory four-week period whether to admit or deny the tenant’s right, giving…

For patent validity, claims must be construed purposively in the context of the specification. A functional expression such as a data collation program may be…

A solicitor administering an estate may charge by reference both to time and to value where the resulting remuneration is fair and reasonable overall. In…

Restitution or compensation required by Community law for the premature payment of corporation tax must provide full restoration of the loss of use of the…

For security for costs, a company may be unable to pay an adverse costs order when it falls due even though it has substantial net assets. The relevant…

Actual authority does not extend to an agent’s transaction entered into for the agent’s own interests or contrary to those of the principal. Nor does a senior…

An administration order requires satisfaction of both statutory conditions: the company must be likely to become unable to pay its debts, and the…

Contractual wording may be construed in its commercial and factual context. Where the background shows that the parties used language which cannot reflect…

A transfer of trust property by a trustee for no consideration can constitute a transaction at an undervalue under Insolvency Act 1986, even where the trustee…

In deciding whether consent to alterations has been unreasonably withheld, the court must consider whether the landlord’s concern relates to the…

A rent review clause is construed by ordinary principles, in its commercial context and in light of its purpose. There are no special rules for rent review…

An out-of-court appointment of an administrator under Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 takes effect when the statutory notice and accompanying documents…

Where patent revocation proceedings in a national court substantially overlap with opposition proceedings before the EPO, a stay is presumptively appropriate.…

A trustee given contractual discretion to decide whether an indemnity is satisfactory is subject to limited judicial review. The court may intervene only where…

An order for security for costs requires both a qualifying condition and a conclusion that the order is just in all the circumstances. Security should…

In professional negligence, a claimant may recover loss flowing from a reasonable attempt to deal with the consequences of the breach. Recovery does not extend…

A shareholder’s ordinary right to inspect documents held by a company extends to legal advice obtained in the administration of the company’s affairs, but not…

Competition must be assessed by reference to the relevant market as a whole, not by examining the effect of a scheme on an individual trader. An assigned-risk…

A challenge under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 requires both a serious irregularity and substantial injustice. The tribunal’s duty to act fairly and…

A transaction procured by undue influence is voidable where a relationship of trust and confidence exists and the transaction is objectively manifestly…

Copyright in a later dramatic work does not absorb copyright in an earlier work from which it is derived. A person claiming joint authorship must show a…

Where solicitors negligently provide defective information about title, liability is confined to the foreseeable consequences of that information being wrong.…

A director’s decision to forfeit shares may be set aside where the directors fail to consider a material matter which they ought to have considered, and the…

A transfer of land is construed objectively, using its wording and background facts reasonably available to the parties. Where the description is unclear…

A trustee promoting a timeshare protection scheme may owe a duty of care to marketers as well as purchasers. Where it knows that marketing has begun under its…

A court may enforce in personam an equitable obligation concerning property situated abroad, including intellectual property, where the defendant is properly…

Search and seize orders and freezing orders are exceptional remedies requiring rigorous safeguards. The applicant must establish a strong prima facie case…

Confidentiality does not arise merely because an employee films workplace activities, nor does a contractual restriction on disclosure give otherwise…

A voluntary arrangement is not invalid merely because a third party pays non-preferential creditors in full while preferential creditors receive a smaller…

Likelihood of confusion under section 5(2)(b) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 requires a global assessment of the marks and goods, viewed through the perception of…

A party seeking urgent ex parte injunctive relief must make full and frank disclosure of all material facts. The duty extends to information going to the…

A contractual forbearance clause may prevent a surety from relying on the rule that a material variation or alteration of the guaranteed risk discharges the…

The court may use the Variation of Trusts Act 1958 to vary trusts arising under a settlement for the benefit of a minor who is absolutely entitled to the trust…

An indemnity is construed by reference to its language, contractual purpose and the relevant factual matrix. Where financing documents show that related…

Witness statements standing as evidence in chief are ordinarily open to public inspection during trial. The burden lies on the person resisting inspection.…

A right of way granted in general terms is construed by reference to the land, the terminus and the purpose of the grant. Where the grant contemplated…

Under the Judgments Regulation, a court second seised must stay proceedings involving the same parties and cause of action until the court first seised…

Under the Trade Mark Act 1938, the relevant date for section 12 is the date when the later mark is entered on the register, not the date of its application. An…

For statutory preservation purposes, a scheme’s normal pension age is determined by the earliest age at which the particular member is entitled to receive…

A payment made by an employer is not taxable as an emolument merely because the recipient is an employee. The payment must arise from the employment, requiring…

Copyright infringement in a design may be inferred from the overall similarity of works, assessed in context. A court should not dissect an original work, or…

Administrators appointed under Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 may sell a company’s assets before creditors approve their proposals. They do not require…

A contractual definition of value applies to a security withdrawal clause unless the subject or context is inconsistent with it. A chargor’s contractual right…

The convening hearing for a creditors’ scheme of arrangement addresses jurisdiction, principally class composition. Substantive fairness is considered at…

A contributory with a genuine financial interest in a company may appear on and oppose a public-interest winding-up petition under Insolvency Act 1986, even…

An alleged beneficial interest must be established on the balance of probabilities before questions of consent, overriding interests or overreaching arise.…

A secured lender does not become a shadow or de facto director merely because it monitors a borrower’s project, controls drawdowns, negotiates rescue financing…

For jurisdictional purposes, a contract formed through instantaneous communications is ordinarily made where acceptance is received. However, where…

The transitional provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 preserved the restriction on pre-commencement assignments of reversionary copyright interests. They did…

A planning obligation securing money for specified highway works cannot be discharged by accepting a repudiatory breach. The obligation is the landowner’s…

A solicitor who undertakes to advise on an investment must exercise the professional duties arising from that retainer. Those duties include explaining the…

Section 371 of the Companies Act 1985 gives the court a procedural discretion to enable company business to be conducted where prescribed meeting arrangements…

An attorney is not unsuitable merely because the donor’s relatives are hostile to one another. The donor’s choice of attorney carries considerable weight.…

A solicitor advising executors and trustees must meet the standard of a reasonably competent solicitor holding out relevant expertise. Executors who promote a…

Passing off may arise where a trader uses a jointly owned name without a distinguishing feature and thereby represents that it is the only business identified…

For small companies relief, associated-company status depends on applying the statutory control provisions. The legislation extends beyond factual or actual…

A fiduciary must account to the principal for a bribe or secret commission received through the fiduciary position. The bribe and its traceable proceeds may be…

Applicants for a construction industry scheme certificate must satisfy two separate requirements where there has been past non-compliance. The failures must be…

For trade mark identity, an added word with trade mark significance means that a sign is not identical to the registered mark, even if the added word is…

A freezing order or direction restrains dealings with assets but does not itself create a proprietary charge or lien. A charge requires language vesting a…

Liability under Insolvency Act 1986, section 213 requires actual contemporaneous knowledge that assistance is being given to a fraudulent business. Negligence…

On a public-interest winding-up petition, the court must independently balance the reasons for and against a compulsory order. Government expertise assists…

Where a claim form is served abroad under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 6.24(1)(a), the claimant must show that the method used was permitted by the law of…

A Community trade mark consisting of a neologism may be distinctive even where one component alludes to the relevant field, if the mark as a whole is more than…

Sections 555 and 556 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 may impose obligations on a foreign payer with no United Kingdom tax presence where the…

Patent claims must be construed purposively, but purposive construction cannot remove or redraft express limitations. The Improver questions are a useful aid…

A statutory demand is duly served where the creditor does all that is reasonable to bring it to the debtor’s attention, including following the steps…

Copyright in an engineering drawing protects its original visual features, not an unprotected technical idea expressed in the drawing. Indirect copying may…

On an application to strike out a petition under section 459 of the Companies Act 1985, the court must determine whether the allegations disclose a sustainable…

Where company articles require pre-emption before a share transfer, a notice by a person entitled to shares on a member’s death may be treated as a transfer…

Undue influence is concerned with whether one person’s influence over another has been abused. Disadvantage is not an essential ingredient, although it may…

Disputed questions of tax law between taxpayers and the Revenue should ordinarily be determined through the statutory appeal procedure before the General or…

Legal advice privilege may protect a communication from a client to a third party where the communication evidences or reveals the substance of privileged…

For wrongful trading, the court must assess whether a reasonably diligent director, with the relevant general and personal knowledge, skill and experience…

Financial assistance is prohibited only where the assistance is given for the purpose of acquiring shares, not merely because it is connected with the…

Rights under a retirement annuity contract are assets which vest in a trustee in bankruptcy under the Insolvency Act 1986, subject to later statutory…

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988, a landlord must decide an application for consent to assign within a reasonable time. The landlord must then give…

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, a subject access request concerns personal data, not a general entitlement to documents. Manual records fall within the…

A registered industrial and provident society remains a corporation, beneficially owning its assets, until dissolved by a method prescribed by statute or until…

Under a contractual event-of-default provision requiring certification that an event is materially prejudicial to the interests of the Bondholders, the trustee…

Rectification requires proof of a prior accord, a document that fails to record it, the claimant’s mistaken intention that the document should implement it…

Fortification of a cross-undertaking in damages requires evidence of a sufficient risk of loss. The court must estimate likely loss where possible, but should…

On an application to restrain presentation of a winding-up petition, the court asks whether the alleged debt is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds. It…

A hybrid occupational pension scheme providing both final salary and money purchase benefits remains one scheme for the purposes of s.75 of the Pensions Act…

Where a hire-purchase agreement provides that termination reduces the consideration for the supply, the reduction is not converted into bad debt merely because…

A domicile of choice requires voluntary residence in a territory as an inhabitant and an intention to remain there indefinitely. The intention need not be…

Under the Civil Procedure Rules, striking out for delay or abuse is governed by a flexible, proportionate assessment of all the circumstances. Relevant…

A transfer of land by a partnership may constitute a taxable supply to its partners or to a third party. The court must determine the legal effect of the…

Classifying goods as a single supply for VAT purposes does not invariably require every component to receive the tax treatment of the dominant component. The…

A solicitor instructed to prepare a will may owe duties to both the testator and intended beneficiaries. Where the solicitor knows that the will will be…

Security for costs may be ordered against a counterclaiming defendant where the counterclaim has an independent vitality and is more than a mere defence, even…

Contractual notice provisions must be observed according to their commercial purpose. A claim notice must give the detail then available to the claimant about…

A statutory petition for relief from unfairly prejudicial conduct under Companies Act section 459 cannot be removed or diminished by an arbitration agreement.…

Under CPR 39.3, an order made in a party’s absence may be set aside only where the applicant acted promptly, had a good reason for non-attendance and has a…

A conveyance from a vendor directly to a subpurchaser may, in principle, attract stamp duty by reference to consideration under both the original sale and the…

The general rule that costs follow the event does not require a single order covering the whole litigation. The court may make different orders for discrete…

A fiduciary who obtains a business opportunity through his fiduciary position must disclose it fully and frankly and obtain fully informed consent before…

Damages for negligent misrepresentation under section 2(1) of the Misrepresentation Act 1967 are assessed on the same basis as damages for fraud. The…

Registration of a town or village green records and confirms a status acquired through qualifying use; it does not itself create that status. A class c green…

A restraint of trade must first be construed before its reasonableness can be assessed. A restraint may be reasonable where it forms part of a negotiated…

Under the Local Government Pension Scheme, entitlement to early payment of preserved benefits depends on the date when permanent incapacity arose, not merely…

An adjournment should be refused where the application is excessively late, the proposed step has not been initiated, the opposing party would suffer…

A purchaser of a leasehold reversion may be unable to rely on the purchaser’s failure to register title to argue that a prior peaceable re-entry and forfeiture…

A company cannot generally revise filed accounts merely because they contain superfluous or confidential material, where the accounts otherwise comply with the…

Where liquidators administer property claimed by others, the court may permit access to income generated by that property for liquidation purposes. Access to…

Whether companies were controlled for quota purposes depended on all the relevant facts at the time of their licence applications. The court could consider the…

Insolvency proceedings are not the proper forum for determining a debt that is bona fide disputed on substantial grounds. Where that threshold is met, the…

A charge over present and future book debts is fixed only if the chargor is not free to collect and use the proceeds in the ordinary course of business without…

Relief from sanctions is discretionary and requires a fact-sensitive assessment of the factors identified in CPR 3.9, read with the overriding objective.…

In complex, conjoined litigation, interlocutory applications may properly be adjourned to the trial where determining them separately would produce little…

Specific disclosure must be directed to material that is relevant to an issue which remains live on the parties’ pleaded and evidenced cases. Where a claimant…