The Practical Lawyer

The time limit under which a bidder may bring a challenge (under the Procurement Regs) has changed. Since October, proceedings must be started within 30 days from the date when the bidder first knew, or ought to have known, the grounds for starting proceedings had arisen (unless the claimant is applying for the remedy of 'infectiveness', when there is up to a six-month time limit).

The Commercial Agents Regs 1993 still cause many problems. The basic idea is simple: that commercial agents should be entitled to compensation when the agency agreement ends.

Many claims have been issued under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 in relation to the alleged mis-selling of payment protection insurance policies. However, insurers and banks will have been heartened by a recent CA decision which placed great emphasis upon the terms of the Insurance Conduct of Business Rules (which sets out the standards required). At the end of the day, if a lender complied with those rules then it would seem that a PPI claim is doomed to failure.

The Court of Justice of the EU has held that it could be a breach of trade mark for Marks & Spencer to pay to use 'Interflora' as a key word in Google's Ad Words service (ie so that when someone searched for Interflora, then an ad for M&S would be displayed).

A builder agreed to erect a building on land owned by a married couple. It was agreed that they would use, for tax purposes, a special purpose limited company. It was that company that entered into the contract (not the married couple). In due course, disputes arose and the builder eventually got judgment against the company.

A company borrows money from a lender. In addition to giving security (a mortgage over property), the company also gets a director to guarantee the loan. In that situation, if there is a breach of the loan terms, can the lender serve a statutory demand on the guarantor (even though the loan is secured over company property)?

It is important to understand that a 'guarantee' may be worded so as to contain an 'indemnity'. The two are very different.

The traditional approach to judicial review proceedings is that they must be brought 'promptly' and, in any event, within three months. Thus, a claim could be dismissed even though it was issued within three months (if it had not been issued 'promptly').

'Will' denotes mere intention while 'shall' denotes an obligation. 'Must' is an unnecessary word and 'shall' should be used instead (purists regard it as ungrammatical).

Overseas companies are no longer required to register charges on UK property (from 1 October).