Consumer Products (all)

Recent Articles

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  27.11.2023

  EU

  EU Designs Reform, One Year On: EU Parliament announce Final Form of the New EU Design Legislation

  On 7 November 2023, the EU Parliament published the final form of the updated EU Designs legislation. The new legislation, which takes form through a new Regulation and new Directive, are the Parliament’s response to the EU Commission’s proposal of 29 November 2022. If you have not read our previous Law Now which covered the initial proposals in detail, you can find it here.The new legislation is the biggest shakeup to design rights in over 20 years, and affects both Community Designs (now called EU Registered Designs under the legislation) and nationally registered designs in Member...

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  20.11.2023

  Hungary

  Final draft of ESG Law transposing the EU’s CSR Directive submitted to Hungarian parliament

  On 14 November 2023, the Minister for Economic Development submitted to parliament the final draft "Law on the Rules of Environmentally Conscious and Societally and Socially Responsive Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Promoting Sustainable Finance and Unified Corporate Responsibility" (ESG Law).The ESG Law transposes the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive 2022/2464 (CSRD) into national law, establishes a national Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework to comply with EU obligations, and includes provisions of the proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive...

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  17.11.2023

  United Kingdom

  Proposed legislation would radically expand the UK’s class action regime

  15 November 2023 saw publication of two proposed amendments to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill that would have significant impacts on the UK’s class action regime:First, a proposed amendment, introduced by Sir Robert Buckland, to expand the jurisdiction of the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”) to consumer class actions (the “Buckland Amendment”).  At present, the CAT only has jurisdiction for competition class actions.Second, a proposal to reverse the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision in PACCAR, in relation to damages claims...

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  10.11.2023

  Hungary

  Final draft of CSR Directive expected to be submitted to Parliament

  On 31 October 2023, the Ministry for Economic Development submitted for public consultation the draft "Law on the Rules of Environmentally Conscious and Societally and Socially Responsive Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Promoting Sustainable Finance and Unified Corporate Responsibility".The ESG Law transposes the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive 2022/2464 (CSRD) into national law, establishes a national Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework to comply with EU obligations, and includes provisions of the proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive...

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  03.11.2023

  United Kingdom

  Supply chain disasters – history repeats itself

  Recent headlines regarding supply chain failures have similarities with a disaster from the 19th Century. This article looks at the failures and suggests ways to reduce future risk.BackgroundThis Halloween you may have seen an article about the Bradford Sweets Poisoning, which happened at the same time of year in 1858. Twelve children died and over 200 people were seriously unwell as a result of a supply chain mix-up. What struck me was the similarity with last year’s cough syrup disaster, in which over 300 children died. More than 150 years after the Bradford Sweets Poisoning, supply chain...

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  19.10.2023

  United Kingdom

  Boiler manufacturer in hot water with the CMA for overheated green claims

  The CMA has announced a new greenwashing investigation into home boiler manufacturer Worcester Bosch’s marketing practices in relation to its so-called "hydrogen-blend ready" boilers. The CMA has also written to 12 other businesses that sell "hydrogen-blend" boilers to warn them that they could be breaching consumer protection law.In a press release, the CMA said that its investigation will look at marketing practices including the use of:– claims that Worcester Bosch boilers can run on a blend of hydrogen and natural gas. This may give the impression this is a special feature, despite...

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