Latest Cases

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by The Cookware Company against a decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) relating to opposition proceedings between Fissler GmbH and TCC concerning the application by the latter for registration of a figurative sign 'VITA+VERDE' as a Community trade mark. 

Customs and excise – Excise duty. The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) allowed the appeal by Carlton Clubs Ltd (CCL) against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) that charges imposed by CCL on customers for the hire of electronic hand-held devices used to play bingo electronically were subject to bingo duty. The tribunal decided that the FTT had erred in law in its approach to that decision. 

Mental health – Court of Protection. The Court of Protection appointed a non-family member to be a trustee and deputy of property and affairs in respect of the patient, A on the basis that no suitable family member was presently willing to act as A's deputy and it would be in A's best interests. 

Negligence – Duty to take care. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the claimant's appeal against the dismissal of his claim for damages for personal injury. Among other things, it rejected his submission that the social utility factor could be taken into account only if the measures required to reduce the risk of harm would make it impossible to carry on the activity in question, as that put the matter too high. 

Police – Complaints against police. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the claimant Metropolitan Police Commissioner's appeal against the Divisional Court's declaration that the defendant Independent Police Complaints Commission (the IPCC) was entitled to reopen the investigation into the allegation of the second interested party, D, that he had been strangled by police officers, including the first interested party. As D's pending allegations of racial abuse could not be divided off, the strangulation allegation could not be regarded as concluded, such that the IPCC had been functus officio. 

Document – Production. The Chancery Division dismissed the appellants' appeal against case management decisions taken by a deputy master in the course of proceedings. The deputy master had taken a view that he was entitled to take, and had made no error of principle. 

European Union – Value added tax. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of arts 2(1) and 10(2) of Sixth Council Directive (EEC) 77/388, as amended by Council Directive (EC) 1999/59, then by Council Directive (EC) 2001/115. The requests had been made in proceedings between Air France-KLM, formerly Air France, and Hop!-Brit Air SAS, formerly Brit Air, on the one hand, and the Ministère des Finances et des Comptes publics, on the other hand, concerning the liability to VAT of an unused transport ticket and of sums paid by an airline company to an undertaking carrying on the same type of business in consideration for the sale of unused transport tickets. 

Immigration – Asylum seeker. The Administrative Court allowed the claimant Sri Lankan national's claim for judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision, finding that his further representations did not constitute a fresh claim for asylum. It was irrational for the Secretary of State to have concluded that there had not been a realistic prospect that an immigration judge would find that the claimant's risk of suicide could not be reasonably managed in Sri Lanka. 

Family proceedings – Care proceedings. The Family Division, in a case of alleged sexual abuse of two step children by the step father, made findings of fact. The findings made were such that the threshold conditions for intervention in the case of the second step child and the younger three children had overwhelmingly been met, where the eldest step child had already left the family home. 

European Union – Freedom of movement. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding, among other things, that Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be interpreted as not precluding a national measure, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which imposed a minimum price per unit of alcohol for the retail selling of wines, provided that that measure was in fact an appropriate means of securing the objective of the protection of human life and health and that, taking into consideration the objectives of the common agricultural policy and the proper functioning of the CMO, it did not go beyond what was necessary to attain that objective of the protection of human life and health.