Brand owners can rejoice at the ECJ's highly anticipated decision in the L'Oreal v. Bellure case. The ECJ has found firmly in favour of "well known" brands, making it easier for such brands to show that "unfair advantage" has been taken by competitors. The ECJ also held that imitations and replicas are not excluded from trade mark infringement by the comparative advertising regulations. In doing so, the ECJ has effectively found that use of an identical mark for identical goods or services is an absolute prohibition.

Closer to home, the House of Lords further clarified the effect of genuinely without prejudice correspondence, confirming that without prejudice correspondence is not only inadmissible in proceedings to which it relates, but also in subsequent proceedings between the same parties unless it is wholly unrelated to those later proceedings.

Developments and eventualities in the world of data protection have been aplenty throughout the last month. Importantly, the UK Information Commissioner's Office is increasing its notification fees from 1 October 2009.  Click here to find out if this affects you. All companies that use a social networking site for business purposes should also take note of these increased notification fees in the wake of the recent EU opinion which confirmed that such companies would be classified as data controllers in relation to such activity.

Tracking technologies have also been in the limelight. The European Commission has expressed concerns about the privacy implications of tracking technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification.

Finally, "cost cutting" continues to be a phrase that encourages eyes open and minds engage in the current economic climate. A largely untapped source of cost reduction to date is the renegotiation of more flexible terms in outsourcing contracts. Such renegotiations can be to your benefit, whichever party to the contract you are but, as always, the devil lies in the detail.