Business Law Library & Tracker
Import, Export, Sanctions & Customs
Cross-border goods, export controls, customs and restricted trade.
Sources last reviewed 28 July 2026
Main law guides
122
Acts, regulations and codes worth reading first
Topics
60
Plain-English clusters
Published case explainers
143
Selected cases with a business lesson
Tracked updates
11
New, amended & reviewed
Plain-English explainers, not legal advice. Use the linked official source for section-level detail, and get advice for your situation.
Get legal helpMain laws
Employment Act 2002
2002 c. 22
Building Safety Act 2022
UKPGA 2022 c 30
Consumer Credit Act 1974
UKPGA 1974 c 39
Consumer Protection Act 1987
UKPGA 1987 c 43
Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020
UKPGA 2020 c 12
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024
UKPGA 2024 c 13
Environmental Protection Act 1990
UKPGA 1990 c 43
Food Safety Act 1990
UKPGA 1990 c 16
General Product Safety Regulations 2005
SI 2005/1803
Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
UKPGA 1996 c 53
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006
UKPGA 2006 c 13
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009
2009 c. 20
Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999
SI 1999/3312
Misrepresentation Act 1967
UKPGA 1967 c 7
Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (Security Requirements for Relevant Connectable Products) Regulations 2023
SI 2023/1007
Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022
UKPGA 2022 c 46
Public Contracts Regulations 2015
SI 2015/102
Registered Designs Act 1949
UKPGA Geo6 12-13-14 c 88
Sale of Goods Act 1979
UKPGA 1979 c 54
Trade Marks Act 1994
UKPGA 1994 c 26
Electronic Communications Act 2000
2000 c. 7
Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995
UKPGA 1995 c 30
Communications Act 2003
2003 c. 21
Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008
2008 c. 20
European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020
2020 c. 29
Fire Safety Act 2021
2021 c. 24
Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008
2008 c. 13
The Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006
UnitedKingdomStatutoryInstrument 2006 1030
Cases
Acer Incorporated & Anor v Nokia Technologies Oy
If your products rely on standardised technology, do not treat a licence offer as just a pricing discussion. This case shows that the structure of the offer can be...
Airconco UK Limited v DC Air Condition and Refrigeration Limited
For ordinary businesses, the lesson is simple: do not treat website copy as free to reuse just because it is public and promotional. If you lift wording from a...
Andrew Dixon v GlobalData plc
If your business gives comfort to a departing employee about share options, treat that as a serious legal commitment, not just a commercial reassurance. In this...
DSM IP Assets BV & Anor v Algal Omega 3 Limited (In Administration) & Anor
For most small businesses, the durable lesson is not about the science. It is about IP diligence. A patent can look commercially important, but its real value...
On Tower UK Limited v AP Wireless II (UK) Limited
If your business hosts telecoms equipment, buys land with telecoms apparatus on it, or takes an assignment of site rights, do not assume only the original...
Pridewell Properties (London) Limited v Spirit Pub Company (Managed) Limited
If you are a landlord relying on redevelopment to oppose a new tenancy, this case shows the court will test the practical detail, not just the headline plan. It is...
THG Plc v Zedra Trust Company (Jersey) Ltd
Do not assume an old shareholder complaint has disappeared, but do not assume it can be brought forever either. This case says the court must look at what the...
Zurich Insurance Company Ltd, Re
For most small businesses, this case is less about day-to-day trading and more about how regulated transfers work behind the scenes when an insurer moves a...
Adriatic Land 5 Limited v Long Leaseholders at Hippersley Point & Anor
If you own or manage a building with long residential leases, do not assume that a cost is recoverable just because the lease wording would normally allow it or...
AJP Homes Limited v Tate Estates (Lambert House) Limited
The main lesson is to treat the transfer as an operating document, not just a title document. A broad right of way may allow more than simple movement from A to B....
Angela Emmerson v Human Givens Institute Limited
For ordinary businesses, the durable lesson is simple: do not assume you can share information just because one person involved says yes. If your business holds...
Babek International Limited v Iceland Foods Limited & Anor
If your brand uses a stylised logo, emblem or coloured badge, this decision suggests the court will look at the registration in a practical way rather than through...
Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liquidation) and others v Tradition Financial Services Ltd
For ordinary businesses, the durable lesson is not about carbon trading itself. It is about counterparties, intermediaries and warning signs. If your business helps...
Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs v Hotel La Tour Ltd
If your business is selling shares in a subsidiary, do not assume that VAT on legal, tax, modelling, due diligence or corporate finance fees will be recoverable...
Dr Christopher Day v Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
The durable lesson for employers is not that public rebuttals are safe, but that they are risky and must be handled with discipline. The EAT said the tribunal was...
Justin Gutmann v Apple Inc & Ors
If your business runs a platform, marketplace or other model that could attract a competition class action, this case is a reminder that funding challenges may not...
Modernatx, Inc v Pfizer Limited & Ors
The durable lesson is practical. If your business relies on patents, be precise about what your claims cover and keep clear records of the technical problem you...
River Island Holdings Limited, Re
The practical lesson is not that every struggling business can cut leases through court process. It is that directors should act early, build evidence and compare...
Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited & Anor v Alex Neill Class Representative Limited
If your business faces a funded competition claim, assume the claimant may still have workable third-party funding even after PACCAR. You can still review the...
Tesco Stores Limited, R (on the application of) v Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council & Anor
If your business is involved in a retail planning application, treat site availability as a live issue until the decision is made. Do not assume a more central site...
Thames Water Utilities Holdings Ltd, Re
If your business is heading towards a cash shortfall, the key lesson is to start restructuring work early and build evidence around the real fallback scenario if no...
URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd
If your business develops, designs or helps build residential property, do not assume risk ends when the units are sold or when an old six-year limitation position...
Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company v FW Aviation (Holdings) 1 Limited
For ordinary businesses, the durable lesson is simple: if your deal is funded by lenders or secured against key assets, do not treat the supplier or original...
Anthony John Wright and Geoffrey Paul Rowley & Ors v Dominic Joseph Andrew Chappell & Ors (Re BHS Group Ltd & Ors (in liquidation))
For ordinary business owners, the practical lesson is simple: once your company is in serious financial trouble, board decisions need to become more disciplined,...
Christine Self v Santander Cards UK Limited
For small and mid-sized businesses in consumer finance, the practical lesson is not that any standard form will always block later claims. The lesson is narrower...
Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd
Flexibility before an assignment does not prevent employment obligations arising during an accepted assignment. Businesses using casual or assignment-by-assignment...
Costcutter Supermarkets Group Limited v Ameet Kumar Vaish & Anor
If your contract says a customer must pay for goods delivered, a general liability cap may not be enough to let that customer avoid the invoice. The court treated...
Lifestyle Equities CV and another v Ahmed and another
For business owners, this case draws a practical line between company exposure and personal exposure in brand disputes. If your company uses a sign that infringes...
Lipton and another v BA Cityflyer Ltd
If your business operates flights or handles passenger claims, do not assume that last-minute crew illness will excuse compensation. The Supreme Court treated the...
Marcus Gervase Johnson v Firstrand Bank Limited (London Branch) t/a Motonovo Finance
If your business arranges consumer finance as part of a sale, do not assume the lender carries all the legal risk. In the court’s scenario, the dealer was a credit...
Meta Platforms Inc & Ors v Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen
If your business runs a digital service, this case is a warning not to treat user data as a free add-on just because your service has no cash price. The court...
Morley’s (Fast Foods) Limited v Jeyatharini Sivakumar & Ors
The practical message is clear. If your business has settled a branding dispute, do not treat the approved logo as a flexible starting point for future redesigns....
RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV
A force majeure clause should say whether workarounds can include alternative payment, delivery or performance. Without clear wording, a reasonable-endeavours...
SkyKick UK Ltd v Sky Ltd
Trade mark applications should match a real commercial plan. Filing for everything can backfire if the specification has no proper rationale. Startups should seek...
The Financial Conduct Authority v London Property Investments (UK) Limited (t/a LPI Emergency Property Finance) & Ors
For ordinary businesses, the practical lesson is simple: if you operate in the space between distressed homeowners and lenders, do not assume you are just an...
THG PLC & Ors v Zedra Trust Company (Jersey) Limited
If your business is dealing with a shareholder dispute, do not assume the section 994 label answers the timing question. Start with the act being challenged, the...
Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Incorporated & Ors
For ordinary businesses, the main lesson is not about running a card scheme. It is about litigation risk travelling through a supply chain. The claim alleged that...
WaterRower (UK) Limited v Liking Limited (t/a Topiom)
Do not read this case as saying copied products are safe. The narrower lesson is that WaterRower’s copyright case failed on subsistence, despite accepted copying,...
Canada Square Operations Ltd v Potter
The safest reading for business owners is straightforward. Do not assume that six years automatically closes off risk if your business model depended on not telling...
TUI UK Ltd v Griffiths
If your business is defending a claim that depends on expert evidence, do not assume you can stay silent during the evidence stage and then argue at the end that...
Dwyer (UK Franchising) Limited v Fredbar Limited & Anor.
If you use franchise agreements, do not assume a 12 month restraint is safe just because similar clauses have been upheld elsewhere. The court said each case turns...
London & South Eastern Railway Limited & Ors v Justin Gutmann
Read this case as a warning about pricing operations and channel design, not as a final statement that the defendants acted unlawfully. The Court of Appeal did not...
LUEN FAT METAL AND PLASTIC MANUFACTORY CO LTD v FUNKO UK LTD
For small businesses, the main lesson is to check both sides of the trade mark equation. If you are enforcing a mark, be ready to prove genuine use and show the...
Travel Counsellors Ltd v Trailfinders Ltd
Do not assume a new recruit or franchisee is free to bring over a customer list just because they know the customers personally. If the volume, format or detail of...
Trailfinders Ltd v Travel Counsellors Ltd & Ors
For ordinary businesses, the lesson is simple: do not treat customer lists as fair game just because a recruit knows the customers, can remember some details, or...
Burnden Holdings (UK) Ltd & Anor v Fielding & Anor
If your business funds someone else’s court claim, the court may treat you as a real participant in the litigation rather than a bystander. That risk increases...
Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd v Compton Beauchamp Estates Ltd
Do not assume the freeholder is always the right party for a telecoms agreement. Under the Code, the occupier is generally the person who can confer code rights. A...