Macau’s booming property market has prompted the government to issue a series of laws to provide further security to both buyers and sellers. The most important changes are to the laws on stamp duty and promissory and pre-sale agreements. Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia, like most gems, is small and valuable. The attractiveness of this region also appears in the property market, where prices have been on the rise for the last few years (the annual increase in 2013 was of 43% per m2) ...
An application to register the word mark BIMBO DOUGHNUTS as a Community Trade Mark (CTM) has been successfully opposed in the European courts. The ECJ upheld the General Court’s earlier decision that there is a likelihood of confusion between the word mark BIMBO DOUGHNUTS and a registered Spanish word mark, DOGHNUTS. (Bimbo SA v OHIM, Case C-591/12 P) ...
A recent decision by the Florida Supreme Court is raising eyebrows among businesses and practitioners because it regards what constitutes a valid agreement to arbitrate, specifically, whether an arbitration clause written in English can be enforced against parties who do not speak the language. Given Florida’s diverse population, the opinion causes concern as some interpreted it to go against long-standing law that binds a signatory to a contract even if they did not fully understand it ...
On 2 July 2014, the new regulations regarding further building permit exemption measures will come into effect. Among the news is the opportunity to construct 25 m2 ancillary residential dwelling without requiring a building permit. However, the amendments are not entirely without controversy and have been met by strong criticism from several respondents ...
The numbers have been crunched and we have a winner! The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia — known nationally as the “Rocket Docket” — had the fastest trial docket in the country in 2013. Once again. For the sixth year in a row. The median time interval to trial for the 12-month time period ending March 31, 2013, (the most recently released data) is 11.1 months. That’s 11 ...
COOLING TOWERS AND ASBESTOS : NEW OBLIGATIONS FOR OWNERS, TENANTS, MANAGERS AND EMPLOYERS Over the last year and half, the legislator has addressed the building safety issues in order to ensure the safety of the occupants and visitors of these buildings, as well as the persons who may be exposed to hazards because of equipment attached to such buildings ...
In March 2013, the Florida Supreme Court issued a seminal decision for businesses and commercial litigators, Tiara Condominium Association Inc. v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, 110 So. 3d 399 (Fla. 2013), in which it expressly limited the applicability of the economic loss rule to products liability cases. For decades, Florida courts had applied the economic loss rule to prohibit a party in contractual privity from seeking to recover economic damages arising from the contract ...
Section 3(e)(i) of the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act (the Act) provides that agricultural land shall not be sold or advertised unless the Minister has consented to it in writing. There are currently conflicting judgements as to whether this provision applies to an option to purchase agricultural land ...
The U.S. Supreme Court during its 2013-2014 term decided on six patent cases, the last on June 19, 2014. These cases will have significant consequences for companies as they work to advance their strategy for protecting their intellectual property. The following summary provides highlights of each case. Medtronic Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures LLC Question: First some background: The Supreme Court in MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech Inc., 549 U.S ...
Loose lips sink ships. They also can sink the protections of the attorney-client privilege. A case in point is a recent decision from the Southern District of Florida. Guarantee Insurance Co. v. Heffernan Insurance Brokers, Inc., Case No. 13-23881-CIV (S.D. Fla. June 13, 2014). In that case, Guarantee Insurance had been sued for the alleged bad faith handling of a worker’s compensation insurance claim ...
This is a simplified guide to the process of buying a property in the Turks and Caicos Islands. While all reasonable endeavours are taken to ensure that it is correct at the time of print it does not purport to be an exhaustive analysis of the relevant laws as may be applicable to you ...
Most commercial leases contain terms that require tenants to pay additional rent. Additional rent is usually a share of the costs and charges incurred to operate the property. These costs can include municipal taxes, insurance premiums, repair and maintenance costs and common area utility charges. In any given year, these charges change and fluctuate. Landlords often provide an annual estimate which tenants pay subject to a year-end reconciliation ...
The quality of one’s life is determined by the quality of the questions one asks oneself every day, and the realization that this truth applies equally to lawyering. Our theory, borne of experience, is that a lawyer conditioned to ask an empowering question when adversity strikes, such as: “How can I use this?” is a better and more effective advocate. You might one day owe your life to an accident. Literally ...
On 12/3/13, the Tax Court decided Crescent Holdings LLC,1 which involved a $1.6 billion transaction. The Tax Court's opinion (1) underlines the fact that the exact language in an operating agreement does matter and (2) clearly demonstrates that compensatory partnership/LLC interests are technically complicated and require the active role of tax counsel. FACTS Duke Energy Corp ...
The starting point for mediation in commercial disputes is that the parties themselves are in the best position to resolve the dispute, instead of entrusting it to an arbitrator or a judge. In this way, the parties retain control over their conflict, thus increasing the opportunities to reach a flexible solution. In this article we will briefly review the alternatives offered by the public courts in Sweden when a dispute already has emerged ...
The Brazilian Securities Exchange Commission (“CVM”) has made public its Board of Directors’ decision issued on August 12, 2014, with respect to CVM Proceeding No. 2014/6342 (“Proceeding”). The Proceeding was initiated by SPE STX 25 Desenvolvimento Imobiliário S.A. (“STX”) concerning the development of the “Rio Business Soft Inn”,because STX intended to sell 151 hotel units (“condo hotel units”) during the construction period, at an average price of R$400,000.00 in accordance with Law No. 4 ...
On 1 August 2014, the Queensland government released consultation drafts of the Planning and Development Bill 2014 (P&D Bill) and the Planning and Environment Court Bill 2014 (PEC Bill). The draft Planning Bills are proposed to replace the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (Qld) (SPA) and seek to implement a new land-use planning and development assessment system that promotes prosperity through balancing economic growth, environmental protection and community wellbeing ...
Motivated by the desire to optimize all matters concerning arbitration and to adapt our previous legislation to the principles set by the United Nations Commission of International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the Panamanian National Assembly enacted the Law No. 131 of 31st December 2013 on National and International Commercial Arbitration (the “Arbitration Act”). A summary thereof follows. Scope This Act applies to arbitrations, both national and international, with seat within Panamanian territory ...
More and more “shops in a shop” are appearing on the retail landscape. They can be organised as a truly separate shop or just a display of specific brand products amongst the other products, be it in shopping centres, department stores or just regular shops allocating some square meters to another (complimentary) brand. Regularly, parties to the contractual documentation for such a “shop in a shop” do not always expressly apply the provisions of the Law on Commercial Leases ...
More and more “shops in a shop” are appearing on the retail landscape. They can be organised as a truly separate shop or just a display of specific brand products amongst the other products, be it in shopping centres, department stores or just regular shops allocating some square meters to another (complimentary) brand. Regularly, parties to the contractual documentation for such a “shop in a shop” do not always expressly apply the provisions of the Law on Commercial Leases ...
On January 1, 2015, the jurisdictional threshold of the Small Claims Court will be raised from $7,000 to $15,000. This constitutes a first step toward the modernization of civil procedure, explained the Minister of Justice, which will be followed by the coming into force of the new Code of Civil Procedure in January 2016.On February 28, 2014, the National Assembly passed Bill no ...
