The Gazette 1996

OCTOBER 1996

Commercial Law Not iceboard From the Company and Commercial Law Committee

Trade marks T h e T r a d e M a r k s Ac t, 1 9 96 c a m e into f o r c e o n 1 J u ly 1996. A m o n g o t h er s i g n i f i c a nt c h a n g es to t r a de m a r k l aw, t he 1 9 96 A c t r e m o v e d t he o ld d i s t i n c t i on b e t w e en P a rt A a nd P a rt B of

Competition law - Inquorate Competition Authority

s u c c e s s f ul series of c o m p a n y l aw l e c t u r es o r g a n i s ed this S p r i ng by C L E in c o n j u n c t i on w i th t he c o mm i t t e e. W a t c h the Noticeboard f or f u r t h er details. Companies Office fees Y o u r c o mm i t t ee m a i n t a i ns an o n g o i ng d i a l o g ue w i th the C o m p a n i es R e g i s t r a t i on O f f i ce a n d h as a r e p r e s e n t a t i ve on t he C R O L i n k c o mm i t t ee (that is, the u s e r s' r e p r e s e n t a t i on c o mm i t t ee e s t a b l i s h ed b y t he C R O ) . W e are p l e a s ed to r e p o rt a r e d u c t i on in i n c o r p o r a t i on f e es of £ 2 0 on c o m p a n y f o r m a t i o n. T h e c o mm i t t ee c o n t i n u es its e f f o r ts to p r o c u re an i m p r o v e m e nt in C R O s e r v i c e s. S o m e t w o y e a rs a f t er its p u b l i c a t i o n, a nd w i th the a d d i t i on at o n e s t a ge of a m e n d m e n ts w h i ch w e r e m o r e v o l u m i n o us t h an t he Bill w h e n initiated, t he 1 9 94 C o m p e t i t i on Bill h a s n o w b e en e n a c t ed as t he C o m p e t i t i on ( A m e n d m e n t) A c t, 1996. R e s t r i c t i ng c o m p e t i t i on a n d a b u s i ng a d o m i n a nt p o s i t i on a re n o w c r i m i n al o f f e n c e s, p u n i s h a b le by i m p r i s o n m e nt a n d fines. Competition law - new crimes created

J u st as the C o m p e t i t i on ( A m e n d m e n t) Ac t, 1996 b e c a me law, a m e m b e r of t he C o m p e t i t i on A u t h o r i ty retired f r o m o f f i c e. T h e C o m p e t i t i on A u t h o r i ty is t h e r e f o re u n a b le to m a k e a ny d e c i s i o ns p e n d i ng the a p p o i n t m e nt of a r e p l a c e m e n t. L i k e w i s e, the p o st of D i r e c t or of C o m p e t i t i on E n f o r c e m e nt c r e a t ed by t he n e w A ct is v a c a n t. officially known as Notes on the Listing Rules, h a ve b e en p u b l i s h ed by t he Irish S t o ck E x c h a n g e. T h e s e p a g e s, w h i ch a m e n d the L o n d o n " Y e l l ow B o o k ", are a v a i l a b le f r o m the H e a d of L i s t i ng a nd F i n a n c e, Irish S t o ck E x c h a n g e, 2 8 A n g l e s ea Street, D u b l in 2, t e l e p h o ne 01 6 7 7 8 8 0 8. Irish Stock Exchange: new rules A n e w set of t he " G r e en P a g e s ", T h e c o mm i t t ee is r e v i e w i ng t he c o n t e n ts of the p r e s e nt syllabi in c o m p a n y a nd c o mm e r c i al l aw a n d will b e p u t t i ng f o r w a rd p r o p o s a ls to the L a w S o c i e t y 's E d u c a t i on C o mm i t t ee in that r e g a r d. • Compet i t ion law under review A n e w b o d y h a s b e en set u p by E n t e r p r i se a nd E m p l o y m e nt M i n i s t er R i c h a rd B r u t on to r e v i ew the l aw o n c o m p e t i t i on a n d m e r g e r s. T h e C o m p e t i t i on a n d M e r g e rs R e v i ew G r o u p i n c l u d es r e p r e s e n t a t i v es f r o m t he L a w S o c i e t y, t he B a r C o u n c i l, t he C o n s u m e r s' A s s o c i a t i o n, e m p l o y e r s' g r o u ps a n d t he t r a de u n i o n s. A m o n g o t h er t h i n g s, it will r e v i ew the 1991 a nd 1996 Competition Acts and the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order, 1987, T h e s o c i e t y 's r e p r e s e n t a t i ve is G e r a ld F i t z g e r a l d, a nd t he n e w b o d y will b e c h a i r ed b y M i c h a el C o l l i ns S C . • Education - Professional and Advanced Courses

t he t r a de m a r k s r e g i s t er a nd n o w p e r m i ts the r e g i s t r a t i on of s e r v i ce m a r k s.

It a l so p e r m i ts the r e g i s t r a t i on of a ny s i gn c a p a b le of g r a p h ic r e p r o d u c t i on ( so that s o u n ds a n d e v e n s m e l ls m a y n o w b e r e g i s t r a b l e ). T h e e x c l u s i ve r i g h ts of o w n e r s of r e g i s t e r ed t r a de m a r k s h a v e b e e n e x t e n d ed a n d s t r e n g t h e n e d, a n d t he r u l es r e l a t i ng to the a s s i g n m e nt a n d l i c e n s i ng of t r a de m a r k s h a v e b e en s i mp l i f i e d. A t p r e s e nt t h e re are 7 , 0 0 0 p e n d i ng a p p l i c a t i o ns f o r s e r v i ce m a r k s. F o r this r e a s on it is u n l i k e ly that a ny s u ch a p p l i c a t i on s u b m i t t ed n o w will lead to a r e g i s t r a t i on b e f o re A u t u mn 1998. Seminars on IP law T h e n e w T r a d e M a r k s A c t, 1 9 96 a l o ng w i th o t h er intellectual p r o p e r ty l aw is to b e the s u b j e ct of a series of s e m i n a rs late this y e ar or e a r ly in 1997. T h e y will b e s i m i l ar in s t r u c t u re to t he

Dublin District Court

J u d g e P e t er S m i t h w i ck h a s i n f o r m ed t he S o c i e ty that the D u b l in a r ea District C o u r t is i n t r o d u c i ng a n e w s y s t em of c a s e listing in C o u r t s 9 a n d 10, D o l p h i n H o u s e , f o r an e x p e r i m e n t al p e r i o d .

p r o c e e d i n gs f o r a d e b t o r l i q u i d a t ed m o n e y d e m a n d r e m a i n a s b e f o r e ; t h at is, t h e y w i ll b e i s s u ed f o r C o u r t 9, D o l p h i n H o u s e at 1 0 . 30 a m .

T h i s p r o c e d u re w i ll s t a rt o n 14 O c t o b e r 1 9 9 6.

O r d i n a r y c i v il p r o c e s s es f o r d a m a g e s f o r t o rt a n d b r e a c h of c o n t r a ct w i ll b e

W o u l d m e m b e r s p l e a s e n o t i f y t h e L i t i g a t i on C o m m i t t e e of t h e ir v i e w o n h o w t h e s y s t e m w o r k s a n d w h e t h e r o r n o t it is an i m p r o v e m e n t?

i s s u e d t h r o u g h t h e C i v il O f f i c e r e t u r n a b le f o r C o u r t N o . 10 o n

M o n d a y m o r n i n g at 1 0 . 30 a m . T h e C i v i l O f f i c e w i ll g i v e t h e a p p r o p r i a te r e t u r n d a t e.

Litigation

Committee

a

T h e p r o c e d u r e f o r s u m m a r y

302