Newsletter-21

222 NEWSLETTER 2016 public health, and do not constitute an expropriation of the Claimants’ investment. The second issue addressed by the tribunal is whether there is a denial of fair and equitable treatment through the implementation of the challenged measures. In the tribunal’s view, the expectations of the Claimants have not been eviscerated in an arbitrary manner by the implementation of the measures, since they had no legitimate expectation that similar measures would not be adopted in the future. Additionally, the new regulations did not modify the legal framework for foreign investments beyond an acceptable margin of change, since there has been a limited impact on Abal’s business, as shown by the analysis of the alleged expropriation. Accordingly, Article 3(2) of the BIT was not breached. The third issue analyzed by the arbitral tribunal is the claim of impairment of use and enjoyment of the Claimants’ investments under Article 3(1) of the BIT. On this issue, the tribunal noted that the same test of fair and equitable treatment should be applied, since the factual and legal basis of the two claims are the same. Therefore, the tribunal concluded that there is no breach of Article 3(1) of the BIT in line with the conclusion reached with regard to the claim on the denial of fair and equitable treatment. The fourth issue is whether Uruguay failed to observe commit- ments as to the use of trademarks under Article 11 of the BIT. On this issue, the tribunal concluded that trademarks are not “commitments” that fall within the intended scope of Article 11 of the BIT. Accord- ingly, the host state does not enter into a commitment with respect to the investment by granting a trademark; rather, it simply allows the investor to access the same domestic intellectual property system available to anyone eligible to register a trademark. Consequently, the tribunal decided that Article 11 of the BIT was not breached by the Respondent. The final issue analyzed by the tribunal is the issue of denial of justice. Concerning this claim, the irregularities concerning the pro- ceedings previously held before Uruguay’s highest administrative tribunal ( Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo , “TCA”), were