Reading Time: 6 minutesIntroduction In our August employment newsletter, we discussed the UK case QBE Management Services (UK) Ltd v Dymoke & Others [2012] IRLR 458, where the employer successfully obtained, among other things, a 12-month springboard injunction against its former employees and their financial backer from starting a new competing business venture. Springboard injunction is a short term injunction […]
Hong Kong: Can love be a defence to bribery and misconduct in public office?
Reading Time: 4 minutesIntroduction The case HKSAR v Wilson Fung Wing-yip & Cheyenne Chan Ung-iok [2019] HKDC 1113 has caught much media attention. The unsuccessful prosecution on the defendants’ bribery charges raises the question of whether a romantic relationship can ever be used as a shield to defend a couple from bribery charges. Background On 28 September 2004, Ms Cheyenne […]
Hong Kong: Enforcing a claim tainted with illegality – the Hong Kong position after the UK Supreme Court Decision in Patel
Reading Time: 8 minutesIntroduction Illegality defence is a legal doctrine which prevents a claimant from pursuing a claim if it arises in connection with some illegal act on the part of the claimant. Such doctrine is underpinned by the principle that one should not be able to benefit from his or her own wrongdoing. The English Supreme Court […]
Hong Kong: Tripartite MOU on accessing the audit working papers for compliance
Reading Time: 4 minutesIntroduction Enforcements against corporate fraud and misfeasance have always been top priorities for the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (the “SFC”). In investigating the business affairs and conduct of a listed issuer, audit working papers of the listed issuer are crucial for the SFC to gain a thorough understanding of the business and […]
Hong Kong: When Would the Court Exercise its Power to Set Aside an Arbitral Award?
Reading Time: 5 minutesIntroduction Hong Kong is a jurisdiction where the policy encourages and upholds the autonomy and finality of arbitration, i.e. a policy of minimal interference with awards.[1] Party seeking the Court’s leave to appeal an arbitral award pursuant to section 5 of schedule 2 of the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) (the “AO”) must satisfy that the […]
Hong Kong: Protection for employers against team move (Part II): Springboard Injunction
Reading Time: 5 minutesIntroduction If a senior employee abuses his power and uses his senior position to exert his influence over his subordinate or junior employees to foment their resignations to join a new employer (often the employer’s competitor) or misuses the employer’s confidential information that only senior employees have access to, and uses such information to negotiate […]
Hong Kong: Claiming damages in addition to setting aside void disposition in insolvency
Reading Time: 5 minutesIntroduction Section 284 of the Insolvency Act 1986, which is the equivalent of section 42 of the Bankruptcy Ordinance (Cap. 6), provides that where a person is adjudged bankrupt, disposition of property made by that person in the period from the day of the presentation of the petition to the vesting of the bankrupt’s estate […]
Hong Kong: Protection for employers against team move (Part I): Non-solicitation clause
Reading Time: 5 minutesIntroduction A “team move” is an expression used to describe the situation in which a number of employees of the same employer resign to work for a new employer. This is in contrast with the departure of a single employee or the departure of more than one employee for different reasons. In this employment newsletter […]
Hong Kong: A glimpse of hearing at Hong Kong’s Trade Marks Registry
Reading Time: 5 minutesIntroduction Whilst trade mark infringement and passing-off are common areas of dispute in the courts in Hong Kong these days, contentious matters arising from or in connection with trade mark registration, such as opposition to registration, request for a declaration of invalidity in respect of a registered trade mark which did not qualify for registration […]
Hong Kong: A blow to the giant – Adidas loses trademark battle against Shoe Branding Europe BVBA
Reading Time: 5 minutesIntroduction On 19 June 2019, The European Union General Court (the “General Court”) dismissed the appeal application filed by Adidas and upheld the decision of European Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO”)’s Second Board of Appeal that, among other things, Adidas’ signature mark of parallel equidistant stripes lacks the distinctiveness required for it to be qualified for […]
Why was McDonald’s “BIG MAC” trade mark revoked in Europe?
Reading Time: 4 minutesIntroduction In the European Union Intellectual Property Office’s (“EUIPO”) decision in Supermac’s (Holdings) Ltd v McDonald’s International Property Company, Ltd dated 11 January 2019, the EUIPO revoked McDonald’s rights in respect of the trade mark “BIG MAC”. The reason for the decision was that McDonald’s had failed to provide sufficient evidence to the EUIPO to prove that […]
Variation of a Mareva injunction may not override legitimate interests of third parties
Reading Time: 6 minutesIntroduction In Securities And Futures Commission v Mo Shau Wah And Others [2018] 3 HKLRD 356, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) dismissed an appeal brought by Mo Shau Wah (“Mo”) in relation to a Mareva injunction obtained against her in proceedings brought by the Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”), against the dismissal of her application for an […]