NIPC Law

By TalkTuahLunchly - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=195954134 Jane Lambert Supreme Court  (Lord Phillips, President, Lord Walker, Lady Hale, Lord Mance and Lord Collins) Lucasfilm Ltd and others v Ainsworth and another    [2011] 4 All ER 817, [2011] FSR 41, [2012] 1 AC 208, [2011] 3 WLR 487, [2011] Bus LR 1211, [2012] 1 All ER (Comm) 1011, [2011] ECDR 21, [2011] UKSC 39, [2012] EMLR 3 Had Mr Andrew Ainsworth started making "imperial stormtrooper" helmets when Star Wars was first released, rather than in 2004, it ought to have been possible to stop him. As Lord Walker observed in paragraph 2 of his judgment in Lucasfilm Ltd. and Others v Ainsworth and Another [2011] UKSC 39, Mr Lucas’s concept of the Imperial Stormtroopers as threatening characters in “fascist white-armoured suits” was given visual expression in drawings and paintings by an artist, Mr Ralph McQuarrie. Assuming that Mr. McQuarrie was a "qualified person" wit...

Every so often a case comes along that is remembered for having something to say on more than one important issue. One such case was Catnic Components Ltd. v. Hill & Smith Ltd. [1982] R.P.C 183 which is cited not just for Lord Diplock's speech on purposive construction of patent claims but also for the so called Catnic defence to copyright infringement. Another example  is  Occular  Sciences Ltd v Aspect Visions Care Ltd [1997] RPC 289 which contributed to the law of confidence and design rights. The judgment of the Court of Appeal in Lucasfilm Ltd. and Others v Ainsworth and Another [2009] EWCA Civ 1328 was such a case. The Lord Justices considered what constitutes a "sculpture" for the purposes of s.4 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 . whether the "design document" and/or the industrial process exceptions to copyright in s.51 and s.52 of the Act could apply, equitable title to commissioned works, whether there is such a thing as "extr...