Mondaq Business Briefing articles from June 2003

Mondaq Business Briefing archives from June 2003

Damages Under the Human Rights Act.
June 2, 2003... The recent decision of the Court in R (on the application of KB and Others) v Mental Health Review Tribunal and Another [2003] 2 All ER 209 sets out important guidelines in relation to awards of damages by the Courts under the Human Rights Act...

Agribio: Parties Jockey for Position as UK GM Debate Kicks Off.
June 2, 2003... We have previously reported the US complaint to the WTO1 concerning the refusal of the EU to approve any GM crops until further stringent regulations on labelling and traceability have been put in place. The US argue that this has resulted...

Strategic Alliances In Life Sciences: Deal Vectors That Deliver.
June 3, 2003... In the life-sciences industry, perhaps more so than in any other, financial success depends upon a company's ability to remain focused on the research and development of its products and technologies. To minimize distractions, most...

Patentability And Commercial Offers For Sale.
June 3, 2003... Article by Mike Boggs and Jason Link One of the requirements for obtaining a patent is that the invention be novel. The requirements for novelty are set forth in title 35, section 102 of the United States Code. For example, section 102(b)...

UK Pensions Update.
June 3, 2003... This will be of interest to clients with UK Pension Schemes that are considering transferring them out of the UK. Bearing in mind the implications of the Inland Revenue Green Paper, they would be very wise to transfer out before the end of this...

Pension Scheme Transfer Service.(transfers from the United Kingdom to the Isle of Man)
June 3, 2003... For many years ECS International have provided a consultancy service to individuals moving to take up employment abroad. Much of our business in this area has been dealing with transfers from the United Kingdom to the Isle of Man. To...

Electronic Data Discovery: Disclosure And Production.
June 3, 2003... Article by Kerry A. Brennan, Charles R. Ragan, Amy C. Gross New Decision Suggests Modification of Cost-Shifting Analysis As companies and individuals increasingly do business electronically, litigants are confronting new and different...

Inter Partes Patent Reexamination - A Less Expensive But Sound Alternative To Litigation.
June 3, 2003... Article by Kenneth L. Cage and Marc E. Brown Over the years, many companies have been forced to bear the high costs of defending patent infringement litigation and have suffered as a result of decisions rendered by judges or juries who did...

Crafting Meaningful Business Method Patents.
June 3, 2003... Article by Stephen A. Becker and Paul Devinsky This framework for preparing and prosecuting business method patents includes analyses of the types of claiming strategies available to the drafter, consideration of the scope of national...

Brand Leveraging - New Income Streams In A Lukewarm Economy.
June 3, 2003... Article by Robert W. Zelnick and Michelle C. Burke There are many opportunities available to companies with recognized brand names to leverage their brands into significant revenue streams. However, caution is required to avoid killing the...

Forum Shopping in Europe.
June 3, 2003... Article by Laurence Cohen and Boris Uphoff Litigants who operate multi-nationally and who are possessed of worldwide patent rights face a spectrum of choices when selecting the forum most consistent with their litigation objectives and...

Patenting the Tools of Biotechnology.
June 3, 2003... While most biotechnology companies routinely protect novel compositions identified from research and development efforts, many overlook the potentially more valuable intellectual property - the research tools used to generate those novel...

HIPAA and WIFI - Regulatory Tangles For Wireless Health Care Networks.
June 3, 2003... By Randy Gainer, Michael van Eckhard, Rebecca L. Williams and Richard D. Marks New uses for wireless devices in health care administration, practice management, and clinical care are heralded almost daily in the health care press. Wireless...

Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404; Safe Harbor for R&D Companies.(financial reporting rules)
June 3, 2003... On Tuesday 27 May, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt rules concerning reports on internal control over financial reporting and certification of disclosures in Exchange Act periodic reports. The new rules implement...

Recognising Corporate Failure is a Fact of Life.
June 3, 2003... This article was originally written in 2002 A big year for corporate woe In recent years we have heard many sad tales from the collapse of Enron to the current leaky building crisis in New Zealand, where investors have lost...

The Impact of the Air Transportation and System Stabilization Act on the Resolution of Reinsurance Disputes Relating to the World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks.
June 4, 2003... Introduction The tragic events of September 11th brought to the forefront a host of challenging reinsurance issues. Although many of the issues are typical of problems inherent in the field, the extent of the losses from 9/11 magnified the...

Valuation of Intellectual Property in Sales and Licensing Transactions.
June 4, 2003... Valuation of IP in connection with sale or licensing transactions is a notoriously inexact art. Mark Grant explores some of the considerations, risks and strategies involved in the valuation process. In patent litigation, the patentee can...

Supreme Court Docket Report, October Term, 2002 - Number 13.
June 4, 2003... By Miriam Nemetz and Robert Bronston The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in one case of potential interest to the business community. Amicus briefs in support of the petitioner are due on Friday, July 11, 2003, and amicus briefs...

California Employment Agreements in Jeopardy: Mandatory Arbitration Agreement Presumed Unconscionable.
June 4, 2003... Article by William Emanuel, Robert Ford, Patricia Kinaga, Allison Michael, Sue Stott The Ninth Circuit, long hostile to arbitration provisions in employment agreements, has found an employer's form arbitration agreement "presumptively...

Construction: How will China's Accession to the WTO Affect the Construction Industry in China - Opportunities for Foreign Companies.
June 4, 2003... China has posed a dilemma for business for years. The market has been too large to ignore, but frustratingly difficult to enter and navigate. Lack of transparency, closed sectors, and rules designed to keep foreigners out of many lucrative but...

Department of Labor Proposes Long-Awaited FLSA Reform.(Fair Labor Standards Act)
June 4, 2003... Article by Steven T. Catlett, Michael J. Gray On Monday, March 31, 2003, the Department of Labor published proposed regulations that significantly change the tests for determining which employees are exempt from time-and-a-half overtime pay...

Money Laundering Dilemmas in Practice.(recent decision of the Commercial Court)
June 4, 2003... A recent decision of the Commercial Court considers the position of institutions which suspect that funds in their possession are the proceeds of crime. Amalgamated Metal Trading Ltd v City of London Police Financial Investigation Unit and...

Labor & Employment: 2003 California Employment Law Amendments.
June 4, 2003... Article by William J Emanuel, Robert Ford, Patricia Kinaga, Allison Michael, Sue Stott The California Legislature once again has made sweeping changes in the state's employment laws. The new laws and amendments described in this report...

Nextwave And The Implications Of A Broad Interpretation Of Bankruptcy Code Section 525(A).
June 4, 2003... By Neil P. Forrest and Marco-Aurelio Casalins III1 Two recent decisions involving interpretations of Section 525(a) of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the "Code"),2 the highly publicized decision of the United States Supreme Court in...

Important Corporations Act Amendments Have Been Announced - New Lodgment Requirements For Proprietary Companies.
June 4, 2003... The Corporations Legislation Amendment Act 2003 (No. 24) was assented to on 11 April 2003. Most of it will take effect on Tuesday 1 July, except for the abolition of the 72 years of age restriction on directors (effective from 11 April 2003 -...

A Costly Lesson In IT Acquisition.
June 4, 2003... Yet another breach of contract case involving the provision of an alleged faulty computer system has been heard by the courts. This action was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and involved two separate matters. The first was an...

Clawback Of Building Allowance: Penalty Tax And The Concept Of Reasonable Care.
June 4, 2003... MLC Limited v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (2002) FCA 1491 The Federal Court has determined that 'building allowance' deductions are not clawed back by the operation of section 82(2) of the Income Tax Assessment Act on the sale of the...

Effect of Recent Amendments of Indian Patents Act on Pharmaceutical Companies.
June 4, 2003... India's patent law was originally designed to suit a closed national economy. The Patents Act 1970 contained several provisions intended to support the domestic industry, especially the pharmaceutical industry, enabling it to enjoy a...

Court of Appeal Ruling on Aggregation Clauses.
June 4, 2003... In this article we consider the Court of Appeal decision in Scott v Copenhagen Reinsurance Co (UK) Ltd [2003] EWCA Civ 688 which was handed down on 16 May 2003 and was described as something of a test case for the insurance market. The judgment...

Giving Unauthorised Traders A Red Card: The Registration And Enforcement Of Geographical Names As Trade Marks.(UK, Australia)
June 4, 2003... Trade mark registries have traditionally approached the registration of geographical names with caution. This caution stemmed from the concern that the grant of a monopoly over a geographical name may unfairly restrict the ability of other...

The Environmental Protection Agency Wants You (to Voluntarily Become Its Partner).
June 5, 2003... By Gregory A. Bibler and Charles N. Le Ray The United States Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") has introduced a steady stream of new "voluntary compliance" programs during the past decade. These programs provide incentives for...

US Supreme Court Rules Usury Claim Against National Bank is Exclusively a Federal Law Claim Removable to Federal Court.(multiple regulatory briefs)
June 5, 2003... The US Supreme Court (the "Supreme Court") held that Section 30 of the National Bank Act (12 USC Sections 85 and 86) provides the exclusive cause of action for usury claims against national banks, and thus a claim brought in a state court...

Using Intellectual Property to Obtain Financing.
June 5, 2003... American Venture Magazine, March 2003 Many new companies are started on the strength of an idea, and that idea may be the primary (if not the only) asset of the company. Turning that idea into a product takes financing. When the primary...

Protecting Your Date Of Invention.
June 5, 2003... Date of Invention: What Is It, and Why Is It Important? Imagine you've made a new invention which will revolutionize your industry and make you a ton of money in the process. You're the first to come up with the idea for the invention and...

SEC Approves Adoption of Rules Implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
June 5, 2003... By Ronald O. Mueller, Amy L. Goodman and Michael J. Scanlon Rules Require Management to Include an Internal Control Report in the Annual Report and Require the Independent Auditor to Include an Attestation Report on Management's Internal...

Supreme Court Holds That Lanham Act Does Not Protect The Right To Claim Authorship In A Literary Work.
June 5, 2003... The Supreme Court has extended its recent trend of interpreting federal trademark protection strictly in light of conflict with copyright and patent laws by holding that Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act does not prevent the unaccredited copying...

ECJ Delivers New Judgments Concerning "Golden Shares".(European Court of Justice)
June 5, 2003... By Philip Martinius and Matthias von Oppen National Authorities' Influence Now More Limited, Certain Companies More Vulnerable The European Commission has once more been successful before the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") in its...

FSA Still Has Not Provided Proper Clarification Of What Mis-selling Is.
June 5, 2003... Legal limbo will not be a welcoming new environment for mortgage and insurance advisers Lack of clarification will inhibit savings The FSA's response to the Sandler Review's calls for a clarification of what constitutes mis-selling is...

Treasury Issues General License, Lifts Most Remaining Iraq Sanctions.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2003... By Judith A. Lee, Alan Platt and Andrea Dynes On May 27, 2003, the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a General License, amending the Iraqi Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 575, and...

Mondaq ( www.mondaq.com ) today alerted its clients of the alliance with Chambers and Partners recently launched American legal directory.
June 5, 2003... Mondaq (www.mondaq.com) today alerted its clients of the alliance with Chambers and Partners recently launched American legal directory. By publishing online with Mondaq, customers of Chambers and Partners may now link articles by their law...

New SEC Rules Under Sarbanes-Oxley: Impact Beyond Issuers.
June 6, 2003... Recently, the SEC issued a series of final rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the "Act"). Besides the obvious impact of these rules on accountants and broker-dealers that happen to be public reporting companies subject to the Act, they...

Colour Yellow Is Not Inherently Distinctive.(Australian Trade Marks Office (Office) issuesa decision in relation to inherent registrability of a single color trade mark)
June 6, 2003... The Australian Trade Marks Office (Office) has issued a decision in relation to the inherent registrability of a single colour trade mark, following the decision of Justice Mansfield last December in Philmac Pty Limited v The Registrar of Trade...

A New Beginning for Allocating Defined Contribution Plan Expenses.
June 10, 2003... In Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB 1) 2003-3, released May 19, 2003, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") provides new broad and flexible guidance that describes how fiduciaries might allocate a defined contribution plan's (e.g., a 401(k) plan)...

Busy Times At The FTC.(FTC is busy investigating antitrust offenses)
June 10, 2003... The decline in merger activity has not led to long vacations at the Federal Trade Commission.1 When the administrations changed and, Timothy Muris replaced Robert Pitofsky as FTC chairman, Muris repeatedly claimed that any changes in antitrust...

DOL Issues Proposed COBRA Regulations . . . Finally.
June 10, 2003... The requirements for health care continuation coverage ("COBRA") were first enacted in 1986 and soon thereafter the Department of Labor ("DOL") issued ERISA Technical Release 86-2 (June 26, 1986), which set forth a model notice. However, since...

Statutory Provisions Requiring U.S. Sanctions Against Iraq Suspended - U.N. And Other U.S. Sanctions Continue In Force.
June 10, 2003... OFAC Issues Four General Licenses On May 7, 2003, President Bush suspended certain statutory provisions requiring economic sanctions against Iraq under the Iraq Sanctions Act of 1990 and Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961....

Labor Law Newsletter.(Last several years have seen substantial increase in number of employment class actions filed)
June 10, 2003... CLASS ACTIONS ON THE RISE Over the last several years there has been a very substantial increase in the number of employment class actions filed. In addition to employment discrimination class actions, class cases filed under ERISA, the...

Canadian Corporate Governance Reforms.
June 10, 2003... Article by Jonathan Lampe and Keren Groll The corporate governance landscape in Canada is continuing to evolve. Over the past week, the Ontario Securities Commission and the Toronto Stock Exchange confirmed that they will be releasing for...

FTC Amends Telemarketing Sales Rule.(Federal Trade Commission)
June 10, 2003... The Federal Trade Commission has issued its long awaited final rule amending the Telemarketing Sales Rule (the "TSR"). With three exceptions, the amended Rule became effective on March 31, 2003. The national do-not-call list will not be fully...

Special Update On Telemarketing Legal Developments.
June 10, 2003... Federal Trade Commission Issues Stay of Amended Telemarketing Sales Rule's Prohibition on Abandoned Calls and Corresponding Safe Harbor Provisions In a significant development for the telemarketing industry, the Federal Trade Commission on...

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP Advises Waste Recycling Group plc on [pounds sterling]530.9 Million Recommended Takeover.
June 10, 2003... The Corporate Group at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP has advised its long standing client, Waste Recycling Group plc, on its recently announced proposed acquisition by Cholet Acquisitions Limited, a company formed at the direction of Terra Firma...

Insurance and Reinsurance Team at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP Recruits New Reinsurance Partner.
June 10, 2003... The Insurance and Reinsurance Group at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP is pleased to announce the arrival of Reinsurance partner Ian McKenna from Holman Fenwick & Willan effective from 2 June 2003. Ian has been a partner at Holman Fenwick &...

Pillsbury Winthrop Launches 2003 Summer Associate Program with New Upgraded Program.
June 10, 2003... New York, NY - In the Fall of 2002 a group of attorneys at Pillsbury Winthrop LLP, one of New York City's oldest law firms, reviewed their summer associate program and concluded some radical changes were needed. This year, the firm has...

Commercial Real Estate and Public-Private Partnerships.
June 10, 2003... INTRODUCTION The use of public-private partnerships (known as P3s) is now well established in Canada at the federal level and in several provinces, notably Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Currently, P3s are...

The Future Regulation of Insurance:The Tiner Report.
June 10, 2003... John Tiner's report into the regulation of the UK insurance industry "The future regulation of insurance - a progress report" was published on 1 October 2002. Under the new regime operated by the FSA, insurance firms will be regulated in a...

C-TPAT Validations Review Implementation Of Security Measures.(Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism)
June 11, 2003... Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) is a voluntary program run by Customs in which companies implement measures to develop and enhance import security practices. Customs uses C-TPAT as a tool to assess risk in the supply...

SEC Adopts Changes to Sarbanes-Oxley Section 302 and 906 Certification Related Requirements for Funds.
June 11, 2003... The SEC adopted amendments to rules and forms under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act") that implement the certification requirements of Section 302 of the Sarbanes -Oxley Act of 2002 for registered investment companies...

Cayman Islands Companies.(Companies may be registered in Cayman Islands as exempted, ordinary (subdivided into resident and non-resident) and foreign)
June 11, 2003... Introduction Companies may be registered in the Cayman Islands as exempted, ordinary (subdivided into resident and non-resident) and foreign. There were approximately 65,000 companies registered in the Cayman Islands at the end of 2002 of...

Anti-Harassment Training: Well Worth the Investment.
June 11, 2003... An employer is generally responsible for the unlawful actions of its supervisory employees regardless of whether the employer took any measures to prevent or correct those actions. However, when harassment is the unlawful conduct at issue,...

Avoiding Punitive Damages: Training is the Key.
June 11, 2003... Even where an employer has the misfortune of being held liable for discriminatory or harassing conduct of its supervisors, the company nonetheless may be able to avoid punitive damages by showing that it engaged in good-faith efforts to prevent...

I-9 Record Keeping.(immigration/employment law)
June 11, 2003... The increased enforcement of employment authorization rules and investigations into unfair immigration related employment practices make this an important time for employers to review compliance under the Immigration Reform and Control Act...

Why Should My Company Conduct Harassment and Discrimination Prevention Training?
June 11, 2003... Our Company Has Preventative Policies . . . Isn't That Enough? No. Courts have overwhelmingly agreed that a written policy is not worth the paper it is written on, unless it is effectively implemented through training. As more fully...

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP Advises Marconi On [pounds sterling]450 Million IT Outsourcing.
June 11, 2003... Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP has advised Marconi on its ten year outsourcing agreement for the management of its internal IT and network systems to Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). The agreement covers Marconi's global operations with the...

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP Advises Cable & Wireless On European Disposals.
June 11, 2003... The Corporate Group at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP has advised Cable & Wireless on their entering into conditional agreements to sell all of its businesses that relate to customers requiring domestic-only services in Belgium, the Netherlands,...

Federal Court Of Appeals Ruling Requires Improved Services For Poor New Yorkers Living With Aids.
June 11, 2003... Calling New York City's AIDS services bureaucracy "dysfunctional," the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today ruled that over 31,000 impoverished New Yorkers living with AIDS and HIV-related illnesses have a legal right to...

TH&T Ranked Most Active Venture Law Firm in the Nation.(Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault LLP)
June 11, 2003... Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP ranked 1st in the nation for the number of venture funds formed, 2nd among active firms in number of venture capital deals, and 1st based on the total of both categories in a national survey of most active law...

Electronic Filing and Website Posting of All Section 16 Reports.(securities issuers)
June 11, 2003... This article was prepared by lawyers in the Corporate and Securities Group On April 24, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted revisions to Regulation S-T and to Rule 16a-3 promulgated pursuant to Section 16 of the Securities...

Improper Influence on Conduct of Audits.
June 11, 2003... This article was prepared by lawyers in the Corporate and Securities Group On April 24, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted revisions to Rule 13b2-2 promulgated under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in...

To Limit Claim Scope, Prosecution History Must Refer to Specific Claim Language.(patents)
June 11, 2003... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, revisiting an issue recently discussed in Rambus v. Infineon, reversed a district court's narrow claim construction noting that an applicant's inaccurate statement about its pending claims does...

Ask Rosa Parks-Song Title Using Her Name May Mislead Public.
June 11, 2003... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has held that a use of another's name in a song title may violate the Lanham Act. Parks v. Laface Records, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 8835 (6th Cir. May 14, 2003). The plaintiff, Rosa Parks, is a civil...

Cancer Drug Patent Found Unenforceable for Failure to Disclose Non-Prior Art Article Material to Enablement.
June 11, 2003... Reinvigorating the inequitable conduct defense, the U.S. Court of Appeals for The patents in question were based on a scientific article by the named inventors published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). The draft...

Letters to the Plaintiff from Outside Forum Suffices for Personal Jurisdiction.
June 11, 2003... In a case involving a complaint for declaratory judgment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction. Silent Drive Inc. v. Strong Industries, Inc., Case No....

USPTO Proposes Rules to Implement the 2002 Inter Partes Reexamination Amendments to the Patent Statute.(United Stes Patent and Trademark Office)
June 11, 2003... In Pub. L. 107-273, enacted on November 2, 2002, the inter partes reexamination statutes were amended to provide greater appeal rights to the third-party requester. (Visit www.mwe.com/info/news/ipreview-spring03.htm.) These proposed amendments...

President Bush Signs New Tax Cut Into Law.
June 11, 2003... On May 28, President Bush signed into law the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. This is the third tax cut of the Bush presidency. The act reduces income taxes, on a temporary basis, for individuals and corporations. The key...

UK High Court Confirms Jurisdiction Over International Cartels.
June 11, 2003... Article by Davina Garrod, Scott S. Megregian, Ian Rose and Anthony Rosen On 6 May 2003, the UK High Court issued a decision establishing that UK courts will expansively interpret their jurisdiction over international cartel cases. This...

UK Tax Relief For R&D.
June 11, 2003... Article by Sylvia Choi, Guy Madewell and Peter M.W. Nias This On the Subject summarises the planning opportunities that exist for multi-national and UK groups who carry out Research and Development (R&D) in the UK. Companies can now...

Prosecution History Does Not Preclude Unrecited Steps in Process Claim.(Invitrogen Corp. v. BioCrest Manufacturing, L.P. )
June 11, 2003... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, finding error in the district court's construction of a process claim, vacated a summary judgment decision and remanded the case for further proceedings. Invitrogen Corp. v. BioCrest...

U.S. Federal Circuit "Operates" to Cure Narrow Claim Construction.
June 11, 2003... Reversing a district court summary judgment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has determined that a patent directed to robotic surgical systems that have a telecommunications link to permit a surgeon to operate from a "remote...

Another District Court Reversed for Limiting Claims by Incorporating Limitations from Specification.
June 11, 2003... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reversed and remanded yet another case for what it considered to be an unduly restrictive claim construction. RF Delaware, Inc. v. Pacific Keystone Technologies, Inc., Case No. 02-1508 (Fed....

Presumptions Arising from Incontestability Extend to Most Salient Part of Composite Mark.
June 11, 2003... The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that when the holder of an incontestable composite mark complains that the most salient feature of its mark is being imitated and a likelihood of confusion may result, the mark...

Use of Mark in Post-Domain Name of a URL Does Not Constitute Trademark Infringement.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2003... Article by John Dabney & Linda Stein The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has held that use of another's trademark in the post-domain path of a URL does not violate the Lanham Act. Interactive Prods. Corp. v. A2Z Mobile Office...

Interesting Developments in International Commercial Arbitration.
June 11, 2003... There has been a noticeable increase in recent years in parties commencing international arbitration proceedings against states. There are a number of factors that have influenced this trend: the dramatic change in the legal environment for...

Court of Appeal Reaffirms Restrictive Scope of Serious Irregularity as a Ground to Set Aside an Award.
June 11, 2003... The Court of Appeal in England had to consider in its decision of Checkpoint Ltd v Strathclyde Pension Fund [2003] All ER (D) 56 whether an arbitrator's use of personal knowledge amounted to serious irregularity pursuant to section 68...

Privy Council Curtails Obligation of Confidentiality in International Arbitration.(Case involving Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services Limited (AEGIS) and European Reinsurance Company of Zurich is discussed)
June 11, 2003... Confidentiality has always been referred to as one of the advantages of choosing arbitration over litigation. However, the extent of this right and its enforcement can be problematic. In a recent appeal to the Privy Council the scope of the...