High Court: Chancery Division judgments, 2006

A testator must understand the nature and effect of making a will, the persons who may properly be considered as beneficiaries, and the property being disposed…

In disqualification proceedings under sections 6 and 7 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the court has jurisdiction over a foreign-resident…

Under section 111 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the court must decide whether the statutory requirements have been met and whether, in all…

Interim declarations and injunctions should not be granted where the underlying dispute depends substantially on contested facts that cannot properly be…

Where a will is duly executed by a testator with testamentary capacity, knowledge and approval are ordinarily presumed. The presumption is displaced where the…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction to enforce a foreign judgment does not depend on proof that the judgment debtor presently has assets in…

For VAT purposes, the person who pays for goods is not necessarily the person to whom they are supplied. The decisive question is who receives the right to…

For the commercial-reasons condition in section 137 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, the court must examine the actual exchange, reconstruction or…

On an appeal under section 83 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994, the tribunal must decide for itself whether an attribution method produces a fair and reasonable…

Customer payments made through a company’s agents are ordinarily received by the company when received by those agents. A Quistclose trust requires more than…

A contractual transfer of business assets should be construed practically, so far as possible giving effect to the commercial purpose of the arrangement. A…

Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, section 348, regulates confidential information rather than documents as such. A secondary recipient does not obtain…

A highway constructed by a highway authority does not necessarily extend to the boundary shown by physical features on the ground. Its extent is a question of…

An insurer exercising subrogation does not thereby acquire a proprietary interest in the assured’s underlying cause of action. The insurer may require the…

On an appeal from a trade mark hearing officer, the High Court should not substitute its own assessment merely because it would have reached a different…

A security trustee’s powers are determined primarily by the proper construction of the security documents. The law of mortgages does not impose a universal…

For Community design infringement, the comparison must be made between the registered design as depicted and the corresponding features of the alleged…

A person may bring a private claim for breach of a statutory requirement where they fall within the class protected by that requirement and the statutory…

An option condition requiring the proposed exercise to be preceded by notification of proof of funds is a condition precedent and must be strictly complied…

When sanctioning an insurance business transfer scheme, the court has an absolute discretion under Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. It must assess…

A contractual obligation to use reasonable endeavours to obtain a planning obligation does not, without more, make the contract automatically terminate when…

In construing a compromise concerning pension benefits, the court asks what the parties’ words would reasonably have conveyed against the relevant background.…

A trustee’s wide discretionary powers and exemption clauses remain subject to the irreducible obligations to act honestly and in good faith. Dishonesty is…

An individual voluntary arrangement may bind creditors as a collective system governing enforcement, even where the creditor was entitled to pursue proceedings…

In complex multi-party litigation, lead cases may be selected where they provide a fair and proportionate means of determining the real issues without…

A right of way cannot be acquired by prescription where use of the servient land has been permitted by its owner. An unsolicited licence is as effective for…

A debenture holder may rely at trial on a circumstance existing when receivers were appointed, even if it was not expressly relied upon at the time, provided…

An appeal court considering permission to appeal must assess whether the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success. Correspondence and a request for…

Fraudulent misrepresentation by concealment may arise where a defendant’s conduct creates the false impression that an interested person is merely an…

A trustee’s powers under an enforcement provision must be construed in the context of the provision as a whole. Proceedings challenging a foreign court’s…

Patents Act 1977, section 37 is directed to resolving genuine proprietary claims in or under a patent. The power to grant a licence does not operate as a…

Where costs incurred in earlier litigation are claimed as damages for professional negligence, the costs should generally be assessed on the standard basis.…

A prescriptive easement requires 20 years’ qualifying use ending when proceedings commence. The claimant bears the burden of proving that period. Where…

Rectification of a will under Administration of Justice Act 1982, section 20, is available where the will fails to give effect to the testator’s intentions…

Where an order requires the value of property removed by contractors to be offset against removal costs, the contractual arrangements must operate so that the…

A third party generally lacks standing to seek avoidance of another person’s contract for fraud, undue influence, unconscionability or breach, particularly…

Excise goods within recommended guideline quantities are not thereby established to be held for private use. Under the Tobacco Products Regulations 2001…

In deciding whether directors are unfit for company management, the court assesses their conduct by reference to the role they actually undertook and the…

Penalties for contempt of a freezing order serve punitive and coercive purposes. Serious, deliberate flouting may warrant immediate imprisonment, but the…

For Enterprise Investment Scheme relief, the qualifying business activity and the company carrying it on must be identifiable when the shares are issued. A…

A contractual earn-out arrangement is construed according to its wording and commercial structure. A deposit arrangement securing deferred consideration…

Whether a debenture-holder has taken possession under section 196 of the Companies Act 1985 depends on the substance of the transaction. A consensual payment…

Where a supplier’s sales promotion scheme requires it to transfer money or money’s worth to a customer after supplies have been made, the taxable consideration…

Appellate review of an insolvency remuneration decision is ordinarily a review, not a rehearing. An appellate court may interfere where the lower decision is…

A pension scheme’s explanatory booklet cannot override the formal trust deed and rules where the booklet states that the formal documents prevail. A flexible…

Regulation 2(2) excludes a pension scheme from Pension Protection Fund eligibility only where, at the time of the legally enforceable agreement, there is a…

A third party who knowingly assists a breach of a freezing injunction is personally liable for contempt, whether or not the person bound by the injunction has…

A bankruptcy court may review an order under Insolvency Act 1986, section 375 where the bankrupt was absent or unrepresented at the original hearing and later…

In a property sale, questions in a seller’s property information form must be construed according to their ordinary and commercially relevant meaning. A…

A definitive map and statement is conclusive evidence of the rights recorded in it, subject to the statutory challenge procedure. Once an unchallenged…

Compensation takes its character as income or capital from the loss for which it is paid. The question is determined by practical business common sense, not by…

Compensation under the 1923 Mining Code is not confined to the value of minerals left unworked. Section 78(4) extends to any loss caused by the specified…

A contractual notice containing an error may remain effective where, viewed objectively and in context, it leaves a reasonable recipient in no doubt as to its…

The court may use its case-management powers to stay proceedings and restrict related proceedings where this is necessary to secure the overriding objective.…

A trustee may recover litigation costs from a trust fund under the statutory indemnity only where the expenditure was properly and reasonably incurred. The…

Expenditure on vocational study is capital rather than revenue expenditure where the course is directed to acquiring a new qualification or entering a new area…

An oral partnership is governed by its objectively ascertained terms, including the partners’ fundamental obligation of complete good faith and the statutory…

For a will to be effective, the testator must have known and approved its contents. The court asks whether the document represents the testator’s true…

For the purposes of contribution under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, a claim in knowing receipt may constitute a claim for compensation in…

Where substantive proceedings settle but costs remain disputed, the court may determine costs if there is a proper basis of agreed or determined facts. The…

Section 651 of the Companies Act 1985 gives the court broad discretion, when declaring a company’s dissolution void, to order that the applicant’s costs be…

Rectification may be ordered where the parties had a continuing common intention, outwardly expressed, which remained operative when the instrument was…

An earlier judgment obtained by perjury does not cease to operate as an estoppel merely because the evidence was false. The perjury must have been committed by…

A contractual obligation to procure that a third party performs an obligation ordinarily requires the promisor to see to it that the obligation is performed.…

Where a will appears to have been duly executed before at least two independent witnesses, the court may presume that it was made with the testator’s knowledge…

Costs are determined by the substance and commercial reality of the litigation. A party recovering a small sum on a subsidiary claim may still be unsuccessful…

A gift to a non-charitable unincorporated association may take effect as a contract-holding gift to its members, subject to their contractual rights and…

Trade mark infringement must be assessed by comparing the registered mark with the defendant’s sign in context. Similarity is a matter of degree and has no…

For VAT purposes, business and economic activity have a wide meaning. An activity may be a business even where it is conducted by a charity for social…

For the purposes of the statutory restriction on appointments, a winding-up petition is presented when delivered to or filed at court, not when sealed and…

A dividend is valid only where the company has properly exercised its statutory and constitutional powers. A unilateral document signed by one director cannot…

A statutory duty does not ordinarily give rise to a private claim for damages unless that intention appears from the statute construed as a whole. The…

For VAT purposes, the assignment of receivables must be analysed by reference to the transaction’s essential character and commercial purpose, viewed in its…

A creditors’ winding-up petition is a sufficient proceeding to support interim relief, including a freezing order, although it seeks no money judgment. The…

When sanctioning an insurance business transfer scheme, the court exercises a real discretion and does not act as a rubber stamp. The central question is…

A contractual obligation to keep an owner informed and advised must be construed in its contractual context. A duty concerning the operation of a hotel does…

Prescription of a right to light requires actual enjoyment of access to light during the statutory period. An internal arrangement may affect the width of an…

Control of a company, even extensive control, does not by itself justify treating the company’s assets as those of its controller or lifting the corporate…

Permission for a derivative action requires more than a prima facie case that the company has a claim and that the case falls within an exception to the rule…

Where related intellectual-property issues can be determined either by the High Court or the Trade Mark Registry, the appropriate forum depends on the…

A non-party costs order is exceptional only in the sense that it falls outside the ordinary run of litigation. The governing question is whether, in all the…

For a benefit to be given in connection with past service under section 612(1) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988, it need not be calculated by…

In disqualification proceedings, an acquittal on related criminal charges does not prevent the Secretary of State from pursuing allegations of unfitness. The…

A surrender of a tenancy by operation of law arises where the tenant’s conduct is objectively and unequivocally inconsistent with continuation of the tenancy.…

A landlord’s abandonment of a distress is determined objectively by the landlord’s intention, as established by the evidence. The tenant’s belief that the…

An expert determination agreed to be final and binding, subject to manifest error, may be challenged only for a plain error in the determination itself. An…

A party cannot ordinarily reopen arguments, introduce fresh evidence or seek to alter a judgment after it has been circulated, particularly where the material…

A solicitor may be liable in professional negligence where drafting accidentally omits a material contractual right and the omission is not authorised by the…

Registration of a partnership business for VAT in its firm name does not make persons who were never partners liable for VAT. The taxable person is the actual…

A covenant to contribute to repair, maintenance and resurfacing costs of a private roadway does not make the beneficiary liable for improvements or…

For the purposes of director-disqualification proceedings, a person who controls a corporate director is not thereby a director of the company served by that…

The statutory power to override rights affecting land acquired for redevelopment may be exercised where the acquiring authority obtains the beneficial interest…

An appeal against dismissal of an application to set aside a statutory demand will succeed only where the first-instance judge made an error of law or reached…

An interference with an easement of light is actionable only where it substantially impairs the comfortable use and enjoyment, or beneficial occupation, of the…

A solicitor’s duty is defined primarily by the retainer and the client’s instructions, assessed in the circumstances and having regard to the client’s…

A third party is not liable in tort for procuring a breach of a contract which is voidable by the contracting minor. The possibility that the contract remains…

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, reasonable financial provision for maintenance may be assessed by reference to the place…

Rectification requires clear evidence that the executed document failed to express the parties’ common intention and that the proposed correction expresses…

Permission to amend a fraud and knowing-receipt claim should generally be granted where the pleading identifies the case to be met, even though fuller…

An application under Insolvency Act 1986, section 212 may be made only by a person who is a creditor when the application is heard and determined. A creditor…

In valuing a minority shareholding under a buy-out order, the court must value the holding as it exists, including the absence of control, unless the order…

A family arrangement dividing assets into factions may create beneficial interests without allocating particular assets to individual members. Where assets are…

A contract may be concluded where a written offer is accepted orally. If the offer itself is in writing, the resulting contract is a contract in writing for…

On a summary judgment application, a defendant must show an arguable defence supported by the evidence. Unsupported or ambiguous assertions concerning rival…

Damages for the negligent loss of a lease should compensate for the value of the legal asset lost, including its right to vacant possession. A temporary…

Under a share option rule giving a remuneration committee an absolute discretion after an employee leaves, the committee must undertake two distinct stages. It…

For the purposes of director disqualification, a person may be a de facto director, a shadow director, or both. The court examines the functions actually…

For industrial buildings allowances, storage must constitute the taxpayer’s trade, or a significant, separate and identifiable part of that trade. It is…

A contractual right arising automatically on a specified event may be an option rather than a right of pre-emption. The distinction turns on substance and…

For the purposes of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, a de facto director is identified by asking whether the person formed part of the…

A repairing covenant generally requires deterioration from an earlier condition. It does not ordinarily require a landlord to correct defective design or…

Indemnity costs are justified where the conduct of the litigation or the circumstances of the case take it outside the norm. The court may consider the…

Where pension rules discriminate between men and women, Article 119 requires the disadvantaged class to receive the more favourable benefits for service…

Double taxation relief permits foreign tax to be credited against United Kingdom corporation tax computed by reference to the same foreign income, subject to…

Rectification of a duly executed will under section 20 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 requires proof, on the balance of probabilities, that the will…

Where a will appears on its face to comply with the statutory formalities, the law presumes due execution. That presumption is strong and will be rebutted only…

The three-month period in section 2(3) of the Forfeiture Act 1982 is mandatory where the applicant has been convicted of an offence involving unlawful killing.…

A conveyance of land by an individual is ineffective to create a legal estate unless executed as a deed. A document containing only the words “signed, sealed…

The court may impose a comprehensive stay to control prolonged and fragmented litigation where a moratorium is needed to promote finality, protect parties from…

On a summary judgment application, the court must determine whether a party has a real prospect of success without conducting a documentary trial. Where…

On a defendant’s application for summary judgment, the court must not conduct a mini-trial. The claim should be allowed to proceed where disputed facts or…

Harmonised System explanatory notes are aids to construction, not legally binding rules. An exclusion in such notes cannot operate as a rigid code which…

For capital gains tax purposes, the statutory fiction applying to an unauthorised unit trust as if it were a company must be applied coherently. Expenditure on…

A managing committee authorised only to give instructions concerning investment management cannot direct a trustee bank to transfer trust assets to another…

Damages in lieu of an injunction for trespass may be assessed by reference to negotiating damages. The court must identify the right that would have been…

Limited software licences may lawfully restrict transfer of certificates of authenticity, software media and documentation to a complete licensed bundle. Such…

An election to waive VAT exemption on land and buildings is distinct from notification of that election. The election requires a sufficiently clear…

On an appeal by case stated, remission is exceptional. A case should be remitted only where proposed additional findings are material to a tenable argument…

When sanctioning an insurance business transfer scheme, the court may place substantial reliance on an independent expert’s report, particularly where the…

A court may act on secondary evidence of a missing private document where the document’s existence is proved, the original is unavailable, and a reasonable…

In an inquiry into damages for conversion of shares, recoverable loss was assessed by reference to the benefit the claimant’s associated company would have…

For voting at a creditors’ meeting, a claim cannot be treated as both unliquidated or unascertained and merely disputed. Where the claim is unliquidated or…

Competition-law defences to a contractual claim must identify the primary facts supporting every statutory condition. Repeating the language of the Competition…

Adoption of the negotiated procedure for a public supply contract does not, without more, confer on tenderers a right to negotiate revised or improved terms.…

A solicitor’s retainer is defined by its terms and the circumstances in which it is given. For an experienced commercial client, a solicitor ordinarily has no…

For VAT purposes, the legal and financial characteristics of a loyalty programme must be assessed robustly and by reference to its dominant features, rather…

A settlement of identified matters does not compromise wider partnership claims unless a full and final settlement term was expressly agreed or is necessary…

A pension scheme amendment power requiring writing “under hand” ordinarily requires a signature. The court cannot waive or authorise departure from that…

The usual rule that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s costs may be displaced where the successful party pursued substantial issues…

A scheme of arrangement under section 425 of the Companies Act 1985 need not alter creditors’ existing rights against the company. It is sufficient that its…

When sanctioning a scheme of arrangement under section 425 of the Companies Act 1985, the court must exercise an independent discretion. It must verify…

For the purposes of trade mark infringement, a sign formed by combining a registered word mark with another word is not identical to the mark where the…

When deciding which testamentary document should be admitted to probate, the court may investigate the testator’s intention and consider extrinsic evidence…

For the purposes of Companies Act 1985, section 425, a meeting ordinarily requires two or more persons to come together. Attendance by only one creditor does…

A restriction in a voluntary arrangement preventing creditors from commencing or continuing proceedings, execution or other legal process in respect of debts…

Cheat software used on an online skill-gaming site may constitute breach of the user’s contractual obligations, inducement of breaches by other users, and…

The court may strike out a party’s defence and counterclaim under its inherent jurisdiction where that party’s conduct has jeopardised a fair trial or…

For patent-exclusion purposes, an invention used in business is not necessarily a method of doing business. The business-method exclusion requires the claimed…

Administrators may, with the court’s directions, honour assurances given to creditors where doing so was reasonably considered likely to assist the purposes of…

The English court has jurisdiction to sanction a scheme of arrangement for a foreign or EEA insurance company where the company is capable of being wound up…

A constructive trust or proprietary estoppel requires more than a parent purchasing a property to provide a child with a home and describing it as a house…

At the summary-judgment stage, a claim under Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty should proceed where it has a real, even if modest, prospect of success and…

A court has jurisdiction under Companies Act 1985, section 425 to sanction a scheme containing machinery for future amendment, including amendment of ancillary…

On an appeal limited to points of law, the High Court must respect a tribunal’s findings of fact and evaluative conclusions. It may intervene where the…

A costs-capping order is not justified merely because a claimant is funded by a conditional fee agreement without after-the-event insurance. The applicant must…

A contractual range for raw-material purchases may define separate purchase obligations for each raw material. Where the agreement expressly permits each raw…

A negotiated pension-enhancement clause may fix the pension payable at normal pension date by reference to an agreed projected salary and service. Where that…

A person may be a de facto director where he assumes the status and functions of a director and exercises real control over the company’s business, even though…

The privilege against self-incrimination protects testimonial material, including compelled answers and documents created under compulsion. It does not extend…

A defendant may generally challenge the validity of a public-law decision collaterally when defending private-law proceedings founded on that decision. Such a…

A document deliberately bearing a false execution date may amount to a forgery, but that does not automatically make the underlying lease void. Where the false…

Restrictive covenants expressed to benefit and be annexed to retained estate land may benefit every part of that land, unless a clear contrary intention…

A wasted costs order requires more than showing that the underlying claim was weak or ultimately discontinued. The question is whether no reasonably competent…

Disclosure is confined to material relevant to the issues in the proceedings. Earlier witness statements may be used only within the limits imposed by Civil…

A company which acts on a fraudulent share transfer may have an implied indemnity claim against the person requesting registration. However, the company’s own…

In a complex fraud and conspiracy claim, the required particularity of pleadings depends on the nature and scale of the case. A lengthy pleading is not abusive…

In assessing obviousness, the court must identify the inventive concept, impute the relevant common general knowledge to the skilled person, identify the…

A lease covenant permitting the erection and use of a building is not confined to a particular type of building unless the lease contains words of limitation.…

Where an appeal allows an application to set aside a statutory demand to be reversed, the court has discretion over when a bankruptcy petition may be…

A settlement agreement must be construed objectively in its factual context. A general release may compromise unknown claims where clear language shows that…

Adverse possession requires both factual possession and an intention to possess. Factual possession depends on the nature of the land and how land of that kind…

For a petition under section 459 of the Companies Act 1985, unfair prejudice ordinarily requires a breach of the terms on which the member agreed that the…

An appeal concerning the replacement of a VAT partial exemption special method by the standard method is a full appellate review where the legislation does not…

An informal amendment to pension scheme rules may be effective where the scheme’s amendment power imposes no formal requirements. Its meaning is determined…

In construing a trade mark co-existence agreement, the expression “on or in connection with” requires a trade-related association with the relevant goods or…

In a professional-negligence claim arising from urgent insolvency proceedings, a claimant may have a real prospect of showing that solicitors acted negligently…

For rent review purposes, the prima facie rule is that the whole of the demised premises, including buildings, is valued. The parties may depart from that rule…

Draft judgments circulated under the applicable Practice Direction remain confidential and embargoed until formally handed down, unless the court makes a…

Damages for negligent preparation or execution of a will must reflect loss falling within the scope of the solicitor’s duty. The estate cannot recover losses…

An easement granting a right to take and convey water does not ordinarily impose positive obligations on the servient owner. A claim based on Abbahall Ltd v…

Testamentary capacity and knowledge and approval are conceptually distinct requirements. Evidence that a testator appeared to understand what was happening…

Informal arrangements made between spouses to divide assets on divorce may fail as contracts where the parties objectively lacked an intention to create…

A perfected consent order is not void merely because it is based on minutes, lacks a liberty to apply provision, or is not signed by every person whose…

In probate litigation, costs ordinarily follow the event. The court may depart from that rule where the testator or residuary beneficiaries caused the…

In a probate claim, permission to discontinue may be refused where a serious issue concerning the validity or due execution of a will requires determination.…

Rules governing notice of creditors’ meetings for company voluntary arrangements must be read coherently. Notice must be given to every creditor whose claim…

A director’s preparations for a competing business become unlawful when, assessed in their factual context, they conflict with the director’s duty to act in…

A vehicle registration mark is assigned to a vehicle through statutory machinery. A private arrangement cannot transfer the mark independently of that…

Standing under section 459 of the Companies Act 1985 is established by satisfying the statutory categories. A registered member has standing under section…

A mortgagee’s power of sale must have arisen and become exercisable before it is used. A breach of a mortgage provision prohibiting the exercise of statutory…

The English courts may determine private-law rights situated in England even where resolving them requires reference to an unincorporated treaty or events…

For supplies of gas and electricity, the relevant VAT tax point occurs when payment is received or a VAT invoice is issued, whichever is earlier. Under a…

A way of necessity is implied only where a disposition leaves the disposed or retained land without any legally enforceable access. The question is not whether…

Applications for limited grants of administration are ordinarily made without notice only because they are usually non-contentious. Where the circumstances are…

An application for pre-action disclosure under CPR 31.16 requires a properly arguable claim with a real prospect of success. The applicant must identify…

A statutory indemnity arising on the assignment of a registered lease is construed according to its terms. It covers expenses and claims arising from the…

A company’s informal approval of an off-market purchase of its own shares may satisfy statutory requirements where the relevant members unanimously assent and…

A general rule denying UK group relief for losses of non-UK subsidiaries is compatible with the right of establishment where it protects the allocation of…

A Master lacks jurisdiction to make an order relating to an injunction unless the relevant exception in the allocation Practice Direction applies. Setting…

Where parties have concluded a binding agreement but left matters unresolved, the court may imply terms only where the stringent requirements for implication…

For the purposes of section 4 of the Statute of Frauds, a written offer may constitute a sufficient memorandum of a guarantee where it contains the essential…

On an appeal from summary judgment, the appellate court reviews whether the decision below was wrong or unjust because of serious procedural irregularity. A…

Whether a company carries on a business for the purposes of section 13(4) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 is a question of fact. Rental income may…

Copyright protects the author’s original expression, including the skill and labour involved in selecting, arranging and presenting material. It does not…

A charitable trust deed must be construed from its words read in their historical context. Trusts created for a Roman Catholic church, schools and cemetery…

A will appointing the partners of a solicitors’ firm as executors may, in context, extend to profit-sharing members of a limited liability partnership that has…

A freezing order may be maintained where there is a real prospect that the defendant owns or controls assets and may take steps to evade enforcement. The court…

A contractual consent clause allowing a licensee to authorise a third party to exercise all mooring rights for one to twelve months permitted successive…

Input tax is not irrecoverable merely because it is principally used in making exempt supplies. The critical question under the partial-exemption rules is…

The Construction Industry Scheme certificate conditions are prescriptive. A subcontractor must have complied with its PAYE and NIC obligations during the…

For dishonest assistance, the claimant must prove a breach of duty, but the breach itself need not be dishonest. The accessory’s dishonesty is assessed…

On a petition under section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986, the court must itself decide whether winding up is just and equitable in the public interest. It…

Allegations that an earlier search-order application was an abuse of process should be struck out where they have no real prospect of success. The court may…

On a tenant’s holding over after a lease ends, there is a presumption that the tenant remains liable at the former rent. The presumption may be rebutted by…

A claimant may establish a beneficial interest under a common-intention constructive trust without a written contract. The claimant must prove an agreement…

For the purposes of the Sixth Directive, article 9.2(e), the place of supply of consultancy services is determined by asking whether the customer has a fixed…

For the purposes of an open contract for the sale of land, the implied obligation to show title may be modified by what the purchaser knew when contracting.…

Use of a competitor’s imagery in comparative advertising may constitute trade mark use and prima facie infringement, even where the imagery identifies the…

Late amendments introducing serious new causes of action will ordinarily require sufficient time for the opposing party to prepare and may require an…

Shape marks for air fresheners may be inherently distinctive and may acquire further distinctive character through consistent use as an indication of trade…

For VAT purposes, publicly funded research is not automatically part of a university’s business merely because it uses the university’s staff, premises…

A private journal may retain confidential status even when it records public events and political impressions, is circulated to selected recipients, and…

Decisions of the Registrar in trade mark opposition proceedings may give rise to cause of action estoppel and issue estoppel in later infringement proceedings.…

An arbitration clause contained in the rules of a sporting association may be incorporated into a licence-holder’s contract through a continuing course of…

Where administrators send a paragraph 83 notice while their appointment remains in force, a later registration of the notice is effective to move the company…

A trust arising when the Law Society vests client-account money under paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Solicitors Act 1974 is a statutory trust governed by…

Exclusion of a minority shareholder is not, by itself, unfair prejudice where the respondent has made a reasonable offer for the shareholder’s shares. In such…

In a parallel-import trade mark dispute, consent to marketing goods in the EEA may be implied only in exceptional circumstances. The facts must unequivocally…

In an unfair-prejudice petition, excessive remuneration paid to a controlling director may justify relief where it is outside the range supported by objective…

Section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 does not stay winding-up proceedings merely because a lease contains arbitration provisions. The applicant must be a…

Prospective partners owe one another a fiduciary duty of complete good faith. A partner negotiating entry into partnership must disclose material matters…

Where a restrictive covenant benefits land described as remaining unsold, clear words may displace the statutory annexation ordinarily arising under section 78…

An overstated statutory demand does not justify setting it aside where the corrected debt remains above the statutory minimum. For council tax exemption…

A creditor’s standing to apply under section 212 of the Insolvency Act 1986 must exist when the application is heard and determined, not merely when it is…

For the purposes of section 459, fairness is a judicial standard governed by rational principles. The court considers the articles, the parties’ agreements and…

A factoring agreement must be construed according to its language and the common intention of the parties. Where the agreement clearly covers only export…

Processing under the Data Protection Act 1998 includes selecting information from manual and electronic files and entering it into a computerised record.…

Use of a sign is assessed by comparing the sign with the registered mark as a whole. Additional words may be ignored where they have no trade mark…

A violation of the right to a hearing within a reasonable time does not ordinarily require pending disqualification proceedings to be stayed or dismissed. The…

In a partnership dissolution action, costs attributable to the ordinary winding-up and accounting may appropriately be left to lie where they fall, while…

Failure by a receiving party to commence detailed assessment within the period in CPR 47.7 may attract both disallowance of interest under CPR 47.8 and…

Companies Act 1985, section 151, concerns a commercial concept. The court must examine the commercial substance and reality of the transaction, while…

Restrictive covenants in employment contracts are enforceable only to the extent reasonably necessary to protect a legitimate business interest, such as client…

A VAT and Duties Tribunal may consider the validity of a forfeiture when reviewing a refusal to restore seized goods, even where the goods were deemed…

On an appeal concerning costs, the appellate court may intervene for an error of principle, failure to consider a material factor, or a decision that is wholly…

Patent claims are construed purposively in the context of the specification, drawings and common general knowledge, while giving effect to deliberate claim…

A boundary agreement must be assessed objectively in its factual and commercial context. An informal agreement fixing a line for tipping or other business…

Damages for breach of contract are ordinarily compensatory, but the court may exceptionally award a reasonable payment measured by a hypothetical release of…

Section 37(5) of the Patents Act 1977 creates a substantive two-year limitation period for claims concerning entitlement to a granted patent. It bars an…

Strike-out for delay is a discretionary and proportionate remedy. The court must assess the length and reasons for delay, compliance with orders, prejudice…

For a restrictive covenant in a conveyance made after 1925, Law of Property Act 1925 section 78(1) removes the need to prove a separate intention that…

When considering whether to stay execution of a judgment pending trial, the court may apply principles similar to those governing an interim injunction under…

Partial waiver of legal professional privilege is assessed by identifying the transaction to which disclosed material relates. The transaction is determined…

In an account concerning the transfer of professional practice assets, goodwill is attributable to clients who actually transfer their business by incurring…

Section 8A of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 gives the court an unfettered jurisdiction to reduce or terminate a disqualification undertaking.…

Limitation for breaches of trust occurring after administration of a testamentary estate is governed by Limitation Act 1980, section 21(3), rather than section…

A fixed penalty under section 97AA(1)(a) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 for failing to produce documents under section 19A is not necessarily a criminal…

A guarantee clause providing that the surety is not discharged by anything the creditor does or omits to do may exclude both complete and partial discharge…

For treaty non-discrimination purposes, taxation may be less favourably levied even where losses mean that no tax is ultimately payable. A comparison between a…

For VAT purposes, a transaction containing several elements may constitute one overarching supply where the elements form a single economic supply which it…

A guarantee contained in a deed may be enforceable by a non-party where the operative provisions create unilateral promises to that person. The analysis…

A beer-tie covenant in a commercial lease remains enforceable even where an ancillary pricing provision is ineffective because the nominated supplier is not a…

A compromise agreement must be construed according to the natural and ordinary meaning of its words, read in their contractual and factual context. A…

Proceedings issued for service within the jurisdiction cannot be effectively served when the defendant is physically outside the jurisdiction at the time of…

A court may correct an obvious omission in a written instrument by construction only where it is clear both that words were omitted and what their gist was. An…

A mortgagee may exercise a power of sale to recover all or part of the secured debt or to protect its security. Mixed motives do not invalidate the exercise…

Informal unanimous shareholder assent may satisfy a statutory requirement for approval in general meeting where the statute does not require a formal…

In parallel-import trade mark cases, the trader bears the burden of establishing that goods were put on the EEA market by, or with the consent of, the…

A patent is not anticipated where the prior art lacks material claim integers, including substantially simultaneous bending, oscillation, or the claimed…

For the purposes of a contractual definition incorporating the Fifth Edition of the RICS Code of Measuring Practice, an area is “usable” if it can be used for…

For VAT cultural exemption, a body is not disqualified merely because it may contract with its directors or connected companies. The relevant question is…

For summary judgment, the question is whether the defendant has a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success at trial. The court must consider the…

A section 459 petition should be struck out only in a plain and obvious case. Ordinarily, continued prosecution will be an abuse of process where a minority…

A freezing order must be construed according to its actual wording, not by reference to forms used years later. An order made in separate proceedings may…

An appeal from a trade mark opposition hearing proceeds by way of review, not rehearing. The appellate court should respect the specialist decision-maker and…

A rent review clause must be construed as a whole and in accordance with business common-sense. Where competing constructions are genuinely available, the…

On an appeal concerning VAT assessments, the tribunal’s supervisory role in reviewing a best-judgment assessment must be distinguished from its original role…

An executor generally has the right to arrange the disposal of a deceased person’s body, but funeral directions expressed by the deceased are not legally…

Under Insolvency Act 1986, section 335A(3), after one year has elapsed the court must assume that creditors’ interests outweigh other considerations unless the…

Copyright protects the expression of ideas in particular works, not general game concepts, commonplace features or abstract functionality. Infringement must be…

A party who elects to pursue an appeal on a defined evidential basis, after declining an available first-instance fact-finding process, may be precluded from…

A public authority may adopt and publish a policy governing a statutory discretion, but it must remain willing to consider exceptional circumstances and must…

A contractual default notice may be valid even where the relevant contractual protection has not otherwise been satisfied, if a continuing and unwaived major…

In a claim involving an admitted debt and a substantial counterclaim, costs cannot be determined mechanically by identifying a single successful party. The…

A contractual obligation to repay, discharge or waive an inter-company debt does not necessarily extinguish the debt or alter the contractual measure of net…

On an interim application under CPR 31.22, the court may restrict publication or disclosure of documents referred to in a public hearing where there is an…

An option granted as part of a sale of property, where the purchase price is secured by a separate legal charge, is not necessarily a clog on the equity of…

Costs arising from a discrete interim application should ordinarily be determined when that application is concluded. The possibility that the trial judge may…