Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie Solicitors

Pay up or pay more!

The European Parliament has passed legislation which means that there will be a statutory requirement on companies and public bodies to pay a bill within 30 days or face fixed penalties and punitive interest payments. The UK has two years to implement the legislation into UK law.

The new rules are aimed at protecting small to medium sized businesses who often face financial difficulties due to late payments. The European Parliament hopes that these regulations will reduce the ‘late payment’ culture which it believes exists in Europe.

As a general rule the deadline for both public and private sectors to pay will be 30 days.

For private company business-to-business transactions, this deadline can be extended to up to 60 days if the parties agree in a formal contract. Longer payment periods (greater than 60 days) can only be achieved if both parties ‘expressly agree’ and it is not ‘grossly unfair’ to the creditors.

For public debts, however, the 30 day payment period can only be extended for up to 60 days if it is “objectively justified in the light of the particular nature or features of the contract”. There are no circumstances where a public debt can extend beyond 60 days.

If a payment is late, the creditor is entitled to claim a set penalty of EUR 40 as compensation. The debt will also then be subject to interest at a rate of at least 8%.

A European Parliament spokesperson said: “The new rules aim to ensure transparency, avoid loop-holes and create a level playing field.”

The new European Union Directive will come into force shortly and the UK will have two years to implement its terms into UK law.

If you wish any further advice on the Directive or on your rights when trying to enforce payment of a bill, please contact a member of the iTech team.

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Nike attempts to make “Back to the Future” a reality

It may not be a DeLorean time machine, or even a hover board, but Nike has taken a small step towards making the future a reality with its patent application for an automatic lacing system.

Nike’s application has caused much excitement amongst “Back to the Future” fans as the application’s drawing shows the lacing system on a pair of basketball boots almost identical to those worn by Marty McFly in the hit 80s film “Back to the Future Part II”.

The lacing system “provides a set of straps that can be automatically opened and closed to switch between a loosened and tightened position”. A tiny battery-driven motor will automatically tighten or loosen the straps when a button near the heel is pressed.

The application is still in its very early stages and it remains to be seen if Nike will be successful in patenting the system.

It can be important to patent your inventions to ensure that your invention is fully protected and ensure that you reap the full benefit of your work. If your invention is patented in a territory, no one can use your invention there without your consent. This protection can last for up to 20 years. This means that you can licence your product to third parties providing a potentially great source of income.

If you wish any further advice on how to patent your inventions, licensing your products or on intellectual property rights in general, please contact a member of the iTech team.

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Ihateryanair.co.uk has its wings clipped

Nominet, the body in charge of registering and controlling the use of .co.uk domain names in the UK, have forced the owners of the website www.ihateryanair.co.uk to transfer the domain name to the airline Ryanair because they made a profit from using Ryanair’s trade-marked name.

Robert Tyler had been operating a website with the domain ihateryanair.co.uk for several years. Tyler’s website criticised Ryanair and hosted forums where individuals could voice their frustrations and dissatisfactions with the airline. The website also contained adverts of some of Ryanair’s competitors and Tyler made a small profit from these adverts.

Ryanair argued that Tyler’s use of the website and the revenues gained by Tyler infringed their trade mark rights and broke Nominet’s regulations.

Individuals and companies can register domain names through Nominet provided that the applications do not make use of, or infringe, anyone else’s intellectual property rights.

If a domain name registration is found to take unfair advantage of a person or company’s rights, such as a trade marked term, then Nominet can force the infringing party to transfer the domain name to the trade mark holder.

In Tyler’s case, Nominet said that the domain name, of itself, was not problematic. Indeed, Nominet stated that Tyler could have continued to operate the site as a host for critical reviews of the airline.

However, Nominet did take issue with the advertising revenue collected by Tyler from the website. Whilst Tyler only earned £322 from the adverts, Nominet held that Tyler was making these revenues as a result of exploiting Ryanair’s trade mark – visitors to the site were attracted by Ryanair’s trade mark and Mr Tyler was making money as a result of this. Nomient held that this was unfair on Ryanair and Mr Tyler was forced to transfer the domain name to Ryanair.

However, Mr Tyler has since simply moved his site and now operates at ihateryanair.org, a site which contains no advertising.

It remains to be seen whether Ryanair will pursue Mr Tyler for this domain name, although given the basis of the Nominet judgement, iTech doesn’t fancy their chances for so long as Mr Tyler keeps adverts off his new site.

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Facebook privacy shocker - Farmville makers sued for alleged privacy breaches

Over the past year the iTech team has reported on a number of cases and controversies relating to Facebook’s privacy policies.

In October, a lawsuit was filed in the United States against the developer of some of Facebook’s most popular game applications for allegedly breaching users’ privacy rights.

Zynga are the makers of 6 out of the top 10 Facebook games, including Mafia Wars, Farmville and Café World.

The pursuer, Nancy Graf, alleges that Zynga collected and shared the unique user IDs of over 200 million users of the games in direct violation of US privacy law and the terms and conditions of Facebook and Zynga.

The case follows an investigation by The Wall Street Journal which found Zynga to be “transmitting personal information about a user’s friends to outside companies.”

Graf is seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages and an injunction to put a stop to the alleged practice. Graf is also seeking a class action status to allow other Facebook users to be represented in the case.

Facebook and Zynga maintain that they do not and will not share any personal information of their users with third parties and Zynga has stated that they will seek to defend Graf’s action.

This case highlights the ever-growing concern for privacy protection on social networking sites.

If you wish any further information on your privacy rights or what obligations you have to comply with when running your website, please contact a member of the iTech team.

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Och aye the who?

The High Court in England has ruled that a company’s trade mark rights can be infringed even where the confusion between the companies only takes place at the beginning of the purchasing process and has ended by the time the consumer has actually purchased the goods.

In other words, even if confusion has been cleared up by the time the transaction is complete, that ‘initial confusion’ can still form the basis of a trademark infringment claim.

The case involved Och-Ziff Management, an asset management company, who claimed that OCH Capital Limited infringed its trade marks in the word ‘och’ by using the term in its name, logo, e-mail addresses and domain name.

The High Court found in favour of Och-Ziff Management on the basis that the use of the ‘och’ name by OCH Capital in its name, logo, email addresses meant that there was a likelihood of confusion between the companies. Och-Ziff Management’s trade mark rights in the term ‘och’ had therefore been infringed.

In its judgment, the High Court explained that trade mark infringement occurs if an advertisement results in the average internet user being unable to determine whether the goods or services referred to in the advert originate from the owner of the trademark or from a third party, irrespective of whether the advertisement leads to a sale.

If you wish any further advice on trade marks or intellectual property rights in general, please contact a member of the iTech team.

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Advertising watchdog pounces on free adverts. Grrrrr….!

Free adverts on popular websites including Facebook, Myspace and Bebo will soon be subject to the same advertising and marketing rules as paid-for adverts online.

From 1st March 2011, the rules of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the watch dog tasked with ensuring advertisments in the UK are fair and accurate, will apply in full to online marketing by all sectors, including retailers’ websites and adverts placed in online areas that are free of charge.

Currently, the ASA’s online remit only covers paid-for marketing such as pop-ups, banner ads and paid-search marketing.

The new rules will be introduced to the advertising industry’s rule book, ‘the CAP Code’ and will focus on all material which constitutes an advertisement or other marketing communication intended to sell something. This includes adverts on websites even if the website owner makes no money from the advert.

Website owners will be required to ensure that free adverts on their website comply with the CAP Code, including the obligations to ensure that their adverts are not misleading or offensive.

Alleged breaches of the rules will be assessed on a case-by-case basis by the ASA. If an individual or company is found guilty of breaching the new rules, the ASA’s powers online will include the ability to remove paid-for advertising and replace it with its own advertisements highlighting the owner’s non-compliance with the ASA’s rules.

For advice on the new online advertising rules and how they might affect your business, please contact a member of the iTech team.

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