Spring2012 Dates for 2012


The City of London Solicitors’ Company


Mon. 14th May Court meeting at 5.30 p.m. Annual Service at 6.30 p.m. H.M. Tower of London, followed by Reception/ Supper at Trinity House. Liverymen, Freemen & Guests. L.


Wed. 16th May Inter-Livery Clay Shoot, Holland & Holland, Northwood, Middlesex.


Thurs. 17th May Inter-Livery Golf - Prince Arthur Cup. Walton Heath.


Fri. 18th –


Mon. 21st May Visit to Treguier.


Wed. 13th June


Legal Charities Garden Party, Lincoln’s Inn Fields


Mon. 18th June Court meeting at 4.30 p.m. Annual General Meeting and Champagne Reception at 5.30 p.m. at Tallow Chandlers’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, EC4. Liverymen and Freemen


Mon. 25th June Election of Sheriffs, Guildhall, noon. Followed by lunch at venue to be arranged. Liverymen.


Thurs. 6th Sept.


General Purposes Committee at the Company’s offices at 4 College Hill, EC4 at 5.00 p.m.


Thurs. 20th Sept. *Court meeting at 4.30 p.m. followed by Court Dinner at 6.30 p.m.


Thurs. 27th Sept. SOLACCSUR Golf Day. Walton Heath Golf Club. Details available from the Clerk.


Mon. 1st Oct.


Election of Lord Mayor, Guildhall, 11.45 a.m. followed by lunch at venue to be arranged. Liverymen.


D Dinner Jacket (black tie)


L Lounge suit


Thurs. 1st Nov. General Purposes Committee, at the Company’s offices at 4 College Hill, EC4 at 5.00 p.m.


Sat. 10th Nov. Lord Mayor’s Show.


Mon. 19th Nov. * Court meeting at 11.00 a.m. followed by luncheon at 1.00 p.m.


Tues. 27th Nov. Livery Dinner, Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Street, EC2 at 7.00 p.m. Liverymen and Guests. D.


The City of London Law Society


Wed. 18th April


† Committee of the City of London Law Society at 11.00 a.m. † Carvery Lunch at 1.00 p.m.


Wed. 13th June


† Committee of the City of London Law Society at 11.00 a.m. † Carvery Lunch at 1.00 p.m.


Mon. 18th June Annual General Meeting and Champagne Reception at 6.00 p.m. at Tallow Chandlers’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, EC4.


Wed. 19th Sept.


† Committee of the City of London Law Society at 11.00 a.m. † Carvery Lunch at 1.00 p.m.


Wed. 28th Nov.


† Committee of the City of London Law Society at 11.00 a.m. † Carvery Lunch at 1.00 p.m.


* At Cutlers’ Hall, Warwick Lane, EC4.


† At Butchers’ Hall, Bartholomew Close, EC1.


For the assistance of members, the dress for evening functions is indicated in the programme as follows:


Intellectual Property Law Committee


The Intellectual Property Law Committee has been busy with two substantive consultations.


A major consultation by HM Government into Copyright has been launched by the Intellectual Property Office, following Hargreaves Report on Digital Britain. We are preparing a submission due on 21 March. It looks at the future regimes for copyright licensing (both in terms of orphan works and extended collective licensing), codes of conduct for collecting societies and most importantly whether to review and amend the exceptions to copyright.


The Intellectual Property Law Committee joined forces with the Competition Law Committee to comment upon the European Commission’s proposal to replace the current Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) in 2014. The block exemption provides some comfort to parties entering bilateral arrangements to licence patents, know-how and software copyright that they fall outside the ambit of Art 101(1) EC. The Committees met informally with the OFT to discuss the proposal. However, whilst the Committees strongly advocated the retention of the block exemption, they suggested reform in a number of respects to: (a) give greater recognition of the pro- competitive effects or “no effect” of such arrangements upon competition; and (b) provide increased clearance based upon simple criteria.


Having a well-drafted regulation provides a level of legal certainty for businesses that no set of guidelines (with all of their caveats and qualifications) can provide. Undertakings want to be able to apply a clear checklist and achieve certainty or at least comfort that the arrangement does not violate antitrust law, when negotiating and drafting technology transfer arrangements, particularly as these are often concluded under time pressure and without access to full legal advice. The risk of anti-competitive agreements “slipping through the net” is relatively low in the case of bilateral agreements even where there could be an argument that the two parties are competitors; in general only multi-party arrangements raise serious competition concerns and should require a more detailed legal and economic analysis.


Businesses tend to find the TTBER requirements inherently difficult and expensive to assess, and particularly difficult when they must be assessed by reference


City Solicitor • Issue 77 • 3


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