Intellectual Property Disputes

Intellectual Property – Patents – Small Claims Court:

A new Small Claims Service is to be introduced at the Patents County Court. The new procedure will impose limits on fixed costs and will allow damages up to a limit of £5,000 per case.

The move has been welcomed by small and medium sized businesses that have been put off enforcing their rights because of the huge costs involved.

The Intellectual Property Office estimated that approximately 150 firms will benefit from the service every year. It is difficult to see why that figure would be so low, as it is thought that the service will become very popular.

The Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Wilcox said

“We hope to have the new system in place by this time next year.”

Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said

“Evidence presented to the recent Hargreaves Review … indicated that around 1 in 6 small to medium sized businesses have given up attempting to enforce their rights due to high Court costs.”

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