Welcome to the March edition of the Retail and Consumer newsletter!

Last month our team were busy hosting a series of breakfast seminars looking at "Shared IP": legal issues around social media, and risks of collaboration with third parties such as designers or app developers.

Social media platforms provide brands and retailers with unprecedented access to their customers. Maintenance of the brand image, click-through purchasing and links with the right "influencers", can all convert visitors to buyers. But without the right underlying commercial agreements, use can lead to infringement and exposure. How can businesses use user generated content, and how to convert followers and consumers into increased sales or development of new projects?

We also looked at common situations where businesses collaborate with outside developers or consultants: who owns or can use the resulting intellectual property - and what if you haven’t captured this in a written contract?

We had a great turnout from the Retail and Consumer community in London and a snowy Leeds. If you would like to receive a copy of the slides from these events please let us know.

Data Subject Access Requests

Changes from 1 May 2018 likely to lead to proliferation of Data Subject Access Requests

• From 1 May 2018 data controllers will no longer be able to ask for a £10 fee to respond to a DSAR.
• As a result, numbers of DSARs are likely to rise by 25%-40% according to a government impact assessment.
• On top of that, data controllers' time for responding to DSARs will generally be limited to one calendar month.
• Businesses need to have processes in place to enable quick collection and review of data, and to ensure that confidential or privileged information is not inadvertently disclosed.

AG Enforce

• Trespassers, including traveller groups and protestors are increasingly becoming a problem for commercial land owners.
• All types of property are vulnerable to this risk and the presence of trespassers represents a significant cost to the land owner.
• The longer the trespass continues the larger the landowner’s clean-up costs.
• Addleshaw Goddard have designed AG Enforce to address the challenges and risks faced by land owners in current times.
• Addleshaw Goddard work with and co-ordinate a trusted team of contacts within the industry, such as enforcement agents, specialised barristers, and process servers in order to minimise delays and secure vacant possession promptly.

This month's articles

Key themes from our London Hotel Sector Outlook for 2018

We recently ran our annual evening seminar which considered a variety of topics focused on the year ahead for the hotel sector.

View our infographic with key themes from the discussion here

Good Work Plan

In our third article in our series looking at the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, we consider the Government's Response to the Review, published in February 2018 and the steps you may wish to consider taking as a result.

Read the full article here

Fire safety on the agenda for retailers

Fire safety has been a common topic in the headlines over recent months following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower last year. Fire Safety is, of course, highly relevant to the retail and consumer sector in order to ensure the safety of consumers. A string of recent prosecutions bring to light the importance for retailers to ensure their risk assessments and general fire precautions are up to date.

Read the full article here

The fascination of the red soled shoe

The Court of Justice of the European Union has been considering the trade mark Louboutin sole since 2016. Following the release of the further opinion of the Advocate General it has been widely reported that Louboutin's trade mark is in trouble but is that correct?

Read the full article here

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax – 3 yearly returns now due

As Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) reaches its third birthday, tenants in Scotland need to be aware of their ongoing responsibility to review the tax payable under their leases.

Read the full article here

Events

General Compliance Seminar

To help busy General Counsel and other governance and compliance professionals keep on top of the ever shifting sands of the compliance landscape we've created a programme of seminars and workshops to make sure you're up to speed. This will be a very practical session, bringing you up to date with changes to the law, but also providing practical advice as to how to maximise compliance within your organisation.

Leeds: 7 March 2018
3 Sovereign Square, Sovereign Street, Leeds, LS1 4ER - Map
RSVP - Vicky Ward

Manchester: 13 March 2018
1 St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 3DE - Map
RSVP - Kirsty Travis

Download the full newsletter in PDF