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Western LegalUK · EU · US · International
Insights

Legal guides for UK businesses.

Trade marks

How to search the UK trade mark register

What the UKIPO search shows, why an exact match is not enough, and when to pay for clearance.

Disputes

How to write a letter before action

Which rules apply, what the letter must contain, how long to give, and the costs risk of a template.

Commercial property

Deed of variation: when it is a new lease

Extending the term or adding premises works a surrender and regrant. What that does to guarantors, the 1995 Act and registration.

Commercial property

Licence to occupy or lease?

The exclusive possession test, why it decides security of tenure, and the drafting that keeps a licence a licence.

Commercial property

Licence to alter: consent, costs and retrospective licences

When the landlord can refuse, why the 1988 Act does not help, and what a January 2026 case says about blanket refusals.

Commercial property

Upward only rent reviews are being banned

What the 2026 Act catches, when it starts, and the 17 March 2026 date that already reaches renewal options.

Company

Unfair prejudice before the petition

What section 994 means, why the buyout offer decides most cases, and the letter that sets up a shareholder exit without litigation.

Data protection

Do I need a UK GDPR representative?

Article 27 of the UK GDPR for businesses outside the United Kingdom: who is caught, the exemption, and what the representative is for.

Trade marks

Non use revocation: the five year rule

How a UK trade mark is attacked for non use after five years, the two month deadline to defend, and the evidence that actually works.

Trade marks

Someone is using my trade mark. What can I actually do?

Section 10 gives a registered owner the claim; sections 21 to 21F make the wrong letter to the wrong person actionable. Who to write to, and what to ask for.

Disputes

Letter before action received? Whether and how to reply

Not a court order, but 14 days is the reasonable period and silence is punished in costs and interest. What the reply must contain.

Trade marks

TM7 opposition received? The two month deadline

File a TM8 or agree cooling off inside two months of the notification date, or the application is treated as abandoned. What the defence must say.

Commercial property

Section 25 notice received? What to do

No counter-notice is needed since 2004, but a court application before the termination date is, or the right to renew is gone.

Debt recovery

Late payment interest: what you can claim

Statutory interest at 11.75 per cent plus £40 to £100 per invoice, with or without a contract clause.

Debt recovery

Statutory demand: when it backfires

The £750 threshold, the twenty one day clock, and the injunction risk on a disputed debt.

Commercial property

Break clauses: why most attempts fail

Conditions, vacant possession, and why rent paid past the break date does not come back.

Employment

The legitimate interest test, the four clause types, and how severance rescues a clause.

Corporate

What a shareholders agreement must contain

Deadlock, exit, valuation, drag and tag, reserved matters and dividend policy.

United States

UK subsidiary or sell direct?

When a US company needs a UK entity, and the banking delay nobody plans for.

United States

English law or US law in your contract?

Governing law, jurisdiction, and why enforcement should drive the choice.

United States

Enforcing a US judgment in England

No treaty route, punitive damages do not travel, and why an award is easier.

Trademarks

Trademark classes: how to choose

The 45 Nice classes, why too few costs protection and too many costs money.

Trademarks

Your trademark was refused. What next?

Absolute grounds, relative grounds, the two month deadline and what a real response contains.

Contracts

Five mistakes that make an NDA worthless

No definition, no term, wrong direction, no carve outs, no usable remedy.

Finance

Signing a personal guarantee

All monies clauses, joint and several exposure, the family home, and what to negotiate first.

Corporate

When directors become personally liable

Wrongful trading, unlawful dividends, overdrawn loan accounts and breach of duty.

Practical

The first 48 hours of a legal problem

Stop replying, preserve everything, find the deadline, write the chronology, get the written view.

Trademarks

How much does a UK trademark cost in 2026?

Official fees, what the market charges, and why £555 all-inclusive beats both the filing mills and the hourly firms.

Trademarks

How fast can a UK trademark be filed?

Filed within 48 hours of instruction. The two clocks on every application and which one you control.

Trademarks

The Madrid Protocol explained

One filing, many countries: the basic mark requirement, central attack, and where Madrid is the wrong tool.

Trademarks

Brexit clone marks can now be cancelled for non-use

Only genuine UK use protects cloned registrations. What overseas brand owners must check.

Domains

Someone registered my brand as a domain

UDRP and Nominet DRS recover it on the papers, typically within 60 days. Do not pay the squatter.

Fees

What does a fixed fee solicitor actually mean?

The definition, and four questions that expose the firms whose fixed fee is an estimate in costume.

Property

Commercial lease review: the clauses that decide everything

Repair, break clauses, rent review, alienation and guarantees, where leases quietly cost money.

Property

Commercial rent arrears: the landlord options ranked

From demand letter to CRAR to forfeiture, in order of cost, with the traps that bite back.

Corporate

Why the downloaded board resolution fails

Allotments without authority, void buybacks, unlawful dividends: what a buyer’s solicitor finds.

Market entry

Setting up in the UK as an overseas business

Subsidiary or branch, the PSC register, and the banking delay nobody warns you about.

Construction

Unpaid invoice? The 28 day route that forces a decision

Adjudication under the Construction Act, and how missed payment notices make the full sum due.

Redress

How to win a Financial Ombudsman complaint

The scheme is free and decided on the papers, so the written submission is the whole game.

Reputation

How to get damaging content removed

Serious harm, UK GDPR erasure and platform routes: three options, and choosing wrong wastes weeks.

Regulatory

A letter from your regulator: first 48 hours

Why the acknowledgment is evidence, what never to do, and where outcomes are actually decided.

Data protection

What your UK website legally needs in 2026

Company details, a privacy notice that matches reality, PECR-compliant cookies, and terms that bind.

Creators

Brand deal contracts: what creators get wrong

Exclusivity, whitelisting, perpetuity, kill fees and the disclosure rules that make you liable too.