Setting the limit on the value of claims heard in the Patents County Court
On 31 July 2009, a working group consisting of the three Patents Court judges, His Honour Judge Fysh QC and representatives of the patent bar, CIPA, ITMA and various other interest groups published a report on Proposals for Reform of the Patents County Court . For those who are not familiar with the English legal system, there are two tiers of civil courts of first instance in England and Wales: the High Court of Justice with unlimited jurisdiction throughout England and Wales; and a network of local courts with jurisdiction limited by geography and subject matter known as "the county courts." S.287 (1) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 enabled the Lord Chancellor to designate any county court as a "patents county court" and to confer on it jurisdiction to hear and determined proceedings relating to patents and designs. There has only ever been one patents county court at any one time, Two courts have been designated and both of those have been in Lo...