Welcome to the thirty-fourth edition of The Weekly Briefing!

Each week, we recap the most interesting commercial news stories shaping the market, from corporate dealmaking to regulatory shifts, and highlight why they matter to businesses and law firms.

Wayfair and Appliances Direct Fined Over Fake Countdown Deals

The UK’s competition and consumer watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has fined three businesses £6m for misleading sales tactics.

Online retailer Wayfair was fined £4.8m. Its website used countdown timers and “Flash Deals” suggesting offers would end soon, but many products stayed at the same price or were even cheaper after the deadline.

Appliances Direct was fined £1.2m for similar fake deadlines and for automatically adding paid extras, such as installation, to orders. It must refund affected customers about £432,000. London gym operator Gold’s Gym was fined £45,000 for not clearly showing the total membership price, including the joining fee, clearly and upfront.

All three admitted breaking the law and settled early, cutting their fines by 40%. Wayfair called the fine excessive but chose to settle.

This matters because, until April 2025, only a court could decide whether a business had broken consumer law. The CMA can now decide cases like these itself, and its fines can reach 10% of global turnover. Lawyers can help businesses check how they display prices and respond to investigations.

Getty Images to File for Prepackaged Chapter 11 and Return to Private Ownership

Getty Images will file for a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy and return to private ownership, backed by up to $533 million in new equity from the Getty family and Koch Equity Development. As part of the plan, unsecured bondholders (lenders whose loans aren’t backed by any assets, so they take losses first) will retire $270 million of debt, while secured lenders (those whose loans are backed by assets, giving them stronger protection) will cut interest costs and extend repayment deadlines.

The restructuring follows the collapse of Getty’s proposed $3.7 billion merger with Shutterstock. The UK Competition and Markets Authority said Shutterstock would need to sell its entire editorial business to get approval. Getty refused, having already spent over $100 million pursuing the deal. With subscriber numbers falling, largely because generative AI is reducing demand for stock imagery, restructuring became the only viable option.

Because the bankruptcy is “prepackaged”, all major creditor groups have agreed to the terms before Getty files. This makes the process faster and more controlled.

Four firms are advising different stakeholder groups:

  • Simpson Thacher for Getty
  • Gibson Dunn for the secured creditors
  • Jones Day for Koch Equity Development
  • Paul Weiss for the Getty family

The UK Wants to Make Patent Disputes Less Complicated

Imagine launching a smartphone company only to discover that the technology needed to connect your device to 5G is protected by patents owned by other businesses.

That's where standard-essential patents (SEPs) come in. Which protect technology needed to meet industry standards such as 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi. Patent holders that commit to licensing these patents must offer terms that are fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND)

On 13 October, the UK government announced plans to make SEP licensing more transparent and disputes easier to resolve. These include exploring ways for courts to determine FRAND terms earlier in existing proceedings, alongside improvements to licensing guidance and access to patent information. The proposals are intended to reduce uncertainty for businesses negotiating access to essential technology.

For manufacturers, licensing disputes can increase costs and delay commercial decisions. Clearer processes could help businesses assess these costs earlier, although the proposed changes are not yet a new system in force.

For law firms, the issue creates work across intellectual property, technology transactions and dispute resolution. Lawyers can advise patent holders and manufacturers on licensing agreements, royalty negotiations and whether proposed terms satisfy FRAND requirements.