NIPC Law

Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (HH Judge Hacon) Jones v Irmac  Roads ltd [2022[  EEHC 495 (IPEC) 8 March 2022 This was an entitlement action under s.37 of the Patents Act 1977 .  The claimant, Mark Jones, sought a declaration that he was the sole proprietor of UK Patent No. 2 506 097 for an infra-red road asphalt heater.  I discussed such actions in  Disputes over Ownership of Inventions   in IP Southeast on 5 Aug 2015.  This case was unusual in that it took place in front of Judge Hacon and not a hearing officer on behalf of the Comptroller and the trial took place outside London. The infra-red road asphalt heater was invented by Mr Jones.  On 20 June 2012, a director of the defendant company applied for the patent naming himself and Mr Jones as the inventors without the knowledge of Mr Jones.  The application was granted on 13 Sept 2017.  The company claimed that it was entitled to the patent by virtue of a s...

Royal Courts of Justice Author  Rafa Esteve Licence  Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International Source  Wikipedia Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (HH Judge Hacon)  The National Guild of Removers & Storers Ltd v Central Moves Ltd and Another [2017] EWHC 3175 (IPEC) (7 Dec 2017) This was an appeal by the  National Guild of Removers & Storers ("NGRS")  against an award of £1,275 damages in its favour by District Judge Vary for passing off. By dismissing that appeal, His Honour Judge Hacon seems to have settled a 7 year controversy as to what should be the correct measure of damages for what is often an inadvertent misrepresentation of continued membership of the NGRS by a removal or storage business that no longer wishes to remain a member of that guild. The NGRS At paragraph [4] of his judgment in  The National Guild of Removers & Storers Ltd v Central Moves Ltd and Another...

The National Guild of Removers and Storers is a trade association for the removal industry. According to its website "The Guild's priority has always been, and remains, consumer protection in an industry where there are no specific laws to protect the moving public" and its efforts in respect of consumer protection have been recognized by Which.  As a result, the Guild has a good reputation among the public making it advantageous to become a member.  The Guild has a number of trade marks which it allows its members to reproduce on their stationery, marketing literature and websites for so long as they remain members of the Guild. When a remover ceases to be a member of the Guild it is required to remove the trade mark and references to the Guild immediately. If it fails to do so the Guild sues it for trade mark infringement or passing off. The Guild has brought a number of infringement proceedings over the years against its former members and the damages that have...