Indefinite or perpetual?

• Examines the Court of Appeal judgment in Zaha Hadid Ltd v The Zaha Hadid Foundation, concerning a contract between two organisations set up by renowned architect Dame Zaha Hadid.
• Despite the absence of an express term, a right to terminate on reasonable notice may be ‘inferred’ within a contract of indefinite duration using the well-established principles of contractual construction, rather than resorting to implication of terms.
• The Court of Appeal distinguished between ‘indefinite’ and ‘perpetual’ contracts.

The case of Zaha Hadid Ltd v The Zaha Hadid Foundation [2026] EWCA Civ 192 involved a trademark licence originally given by Dame Zaha Hadid to her architecture firm, Zaha Hadid Ltd (the company). Upon her death in 2016, the trademark was bequeathed to the Zaha Hadid Foundation (the foundation) which became party to the licence agreement. In wishing to renegotiate the terms of the licence agreement, the company contended that despite there