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Business and Other Briefings
BIS: A new small claims track has been introduced to the Patents County Court (PCC), which will speed up the court process and make it cheaper & easier, particularly for SMEs, to protect their intellectual property (IP) rights.
The small claims track will provide copyright, trade mark and unregistered design holders the option of pursuing basic IP disputes through an informal hearing, without legal representation. This is expected to reduce significantly the cost of pursuing IP infringement cases. Claims allocated to the small claims track will be subject to cost restrictions of £5,000 or less to ensure they are proportionate to what is at stake.
FRC: The Financial reporting Council has, following consultation, recently issued revised International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) (UK and Ireland). The revised standards are effective for audits of financial statements for periods commencing on or after 1 October 2012.
GPS: The Agile Route to Market is now live providing customers with a route to market for sub OJEU / low value communications work (approximate aggregated value up to £100k over 4 years). It provides easy access for suppliers, including small agencies and sole traders, reducing the cost & time burden on suppliers when competing for government business.
BIS: The National Minimum Wage (NMW) rose in accordance with the recommendations set out by the Low Pay Commission in its 2012 report, on Monday 1 October 2012.
DECC: Businesses will still be able to get support for small scale renewable technologies under the Government’s Renewables Obligation (RO), Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker confirmed recently.
