Sufi Rahimi

Intellectual property (IP) often underpins the value of a business and, where it does, it can be a critical factor in corporate transactions. It is important to be mindful of the fact that IP comes in many forms – including copyright, trade marks, patents, designs, domain names, know-how and trade secrets – and that different rights will be relevant in different deals.

The UK Government has announced a target timeline for the implementation of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (the Act), which received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024. The Act will be the biggest shake up of the consumer law landscape since the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and consumer-facing businesses can start preparing as each change is rolled out. Changes to consumer law The Act is focused on improving transparency for consumers and increasing competition among traders.

Drip pricing and The DMCC Bill Drip pricing is a practice where companies only advertise part of a product’s price upfront and reveal other charges later in the buying process. In April 2023, the Government published the draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (DMCC Bill), which contained plans to help manage competition issues in big tech and broaden the scope of consumer law protections, including plans to protect consumers from drip pricing practices by companies.