Scotland sits on the north-west fringe of Europe, and is probably best known for whisky, rain and heroic failure on football and rugby pitches. While part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, many people don’t realise it has its own legal system. And why should they? Even English publications often talk…

On September 12, 2011, the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) launched in Paris the new Rules of Arbitration that will enter into force on January 1, 2012 (the “New Rules”). These Arbitration Rules, whose last revision took place in 1998, were adopted by the ICC World Council in June 2011. On July 1, 2001 the…

We are in the midst of the Rugby World Cup 2011 down here in New Zealand – which may not mean much to those nations not playing the ‘great game’ but the tournament is the 3rd largest global sporting event after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics so you can only imagine the impact…

Patent wars are a perennial hot topic with not only IP experts being familiar with stories of well-known patent disputes. A classic example is perhaps the story of the Wright brothers, who received a patent for their method of flight control in 1906 and fiercely defended it for years afterward, by suing other aviators and…