“Commercial Awareness Is Global.”
By: Ainsley Brown EBay was fined yesterday €1.7 million by the Paris Commercial for violating an injunction prohibiting the sale of LVMH products on the online auction site. The injunction was imposed on eBay last year after it was taking to court by LVMH for allowing the sale of its products on its site. LVMH, the world’s largest luxury good
By: Ainsley Brown The UK’s highest court, its new Supreme Court – new in name only, it still has the same functions as the old House of Lords – has handed down its first business case ruling. And it is a significant one, not just for those directly affected by the ruling but also within the wider UK and international
By: Ainsley Brown The Russian Federal Customs Service has dropped its $22.5 billion suit against Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the world’s largest custodian of assets. Yes, you read that correctly that 22.5 Billion with a B. The suit was brought by the Russian Federal Customs Service in 2007 alleging that BNY was at the centre of illegal money
By: Ainsley Brown Philip Morris – yes that Philip Morris – the tobacco giant is set to sue the Irish government. And, why? The substance of Philip Morris’ claim is that the new Irish law that came into force on July 1 banning the display of cigarettes in stores is anti-competitive. As a public health measure the new law was
By Charles Wanguhu In the current financial crisis the role of offshore havens have been placed in the spotlight and quite rightly so. The lack of transparency in their dealings has meant that these centres have not only been used for tax evasion, money laundering, but also as bases for special purpose entities. The role of British offshore havens has
By: Ainsley Brown Anheuser-Busch, along with Labatt Brewing Co – both companies are owned by Anheuser-Busch Inbev NV – have filed suit against Brick Brewing Co claiming that Brick is violating its intellectual property. The dispute centers on the use of the colour green and limes on the labels of Brick’s Red Baron Lime Beer. Anheuser, the maker of Budweiser,
By: Rechtsanwalt (Attorney) Carsten Lexa, LL.M. A group of 72 former Dresdner Kleinwort traders have sued the new owner of Dresdner Bank AG, Commerzbank AG, claiming it reneged around 34 million Euros of guaranteed bonus payments. The traders argued that their bonusses were guaranteed before Commerzbank Bank´s 5 billion Euros takeover of Dresdner Bank and should not be affected by
By: Ainsley Brown PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the administrator of the now defunct bank’s European arm is set to file a claim against the parent bank in US bankruptcy court. PwC has until September 22 – the deadline set by the court – to file its claim. The claim surrounds some $100 billion in pledges made by the parent bank before it
By: Ainsley Brown Is the aid given to Airbus by the governments of Germany, the UK and France in violation of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) subsidies agreement? The answer to this question is expected to be known by the parties today when the WTO is expected to hand down its confidential ruling to the parties. Confidential rulings are part
By: Ainsley Brown The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has launched suit in the English High Court against Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) claiming that GSK has violated its intellectual property. This new action is far from being the opening salvos of this drug war; the two have already locked horns over the same matter. GSK last year sued Novartis in both