NIPC Law

On 15 Nov 2011 the government announced that a new small claims service will be introduced at the Patents County Court (PCC)  with a view to helping small and medium sized businesses to protect their copyright, trade marks and designs.(see the press release "New Intellectual Property Court process will boost UK business" ). Such a service had been recommended by Jackson ( Review of Civil Litigation Costs , Final Report Dec 2009 at page 257) and Hargreaves ( "Digital Opportunity, A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth" , Final Report page 85).  Gowers had favoured a slightly different service, namely a fast track scheme for lower value IP cases though his 54th recommendation went no further than a review by the Department of  Constitutional Affairs (see page 117 of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property , June 2006). In the consultation document "Introducing a Small Claims Track into the Patents County Court"  which the Intellectual Property Off...

I have just finished reading Chapter 24 of Sir Rupert Jackson's final report on costs ( Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report ) which was published yesterday. It is a good report and I welcome its proposals for intellectual property. However, back in July 2009 I proposed a more radical solution to the IP Bar Association and the working group of the Intellectual Property Court Users' Committee ( "IPCUC" ) that was set up to formulate proposals for the reform of the Patents County Court. IPCUC did not see fit to include my suggestions in its submissions to Jackson (which is understandable since they call for the abolition of the Patents County Court and an extension and reform of the Comptroller's jurisdiction) but I still they think they have merit. As Jackson's recommendations will require primary legislation there will have to be a debate in Parliament and perhaps elsewhere on how best to improve intellectual property dispute resolution in the UK ...