Comments invited on reform of the Patents County Court

The Working Group on Reform of the Patents County Court has asked for comments on their proposals from all interested parties by 3 July 2009.

The Patents County Court (PCC) was created by Parliament to serve the interests of small- and medium-sized enterprises by providing an affordable forum for intellectual property litigation. In April 2009, the Intellectual Property Court Users’ Committee agreed to set up a Working Group to formulate proposals for reform of the PCC, and for those to be submitted to Lord Justice Jackson as part of Phase 2 of his Review of Civil Litigation Costs.

The Working Group proposals say:

“Intellectual Property litigation must not be the preserve of the richest corporations. A system which is radically different from that currently existing must be introduced if IP litigation is to be affordable to all litigants. Plainly the PCC is the natural forum for cheaper IP litigation: it is after all the forum which was created by Parliament specifically for this purpose. But to achieve this, the PCC must have different procedures to the High Court. New rules are required to give effect to the will of Parliament.

“The new rules should have three core elements: first, an inherently cheaper procedure; secondly, limited and predictable costs recovery; and thirdly, proper differentiation from the High Court.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. Comments should be sent to: Philip Westmacott,
   Bristows
   100 Victoria Embankment,
   London EC4Y 0DH
   Email: Philip Westmacott
   
2. The members of the Working Group are:
   Mr Justice Kitchin
   Mr Justice Floyd
   Mr Justice Arnold
   His Honour Judge Fysh QC
   Richard Miller QC (for the IP Bar Association)
   Alan Johnson (secretary to the Patents County Court Users’ Committee)
   Philip Westmacott (secretary to the Intellectual Property Court Users’ Committee)
   Alasdair Poore (for the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys)
   Philip Harris (for the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys)
   Tony Rollins (for the IP Federation)