litigation costs consultation

In January 2010 Lord Justice Jackson published the final report in his Review of Civil Litigation Costs. The report included six recommendations relating to Intellectual Property (IP), one of which endorsed the Intellectual Property Court Users Committee (IPCUC) proposals for reforming the Patents County Court (PCC), as the means by which to reduce IP litigation costs and improve access to justice.

The IPCUC proposals included:

1. Amendments to PCC procedures,
2. A new costs regime, and
3. A limit on the value of claims heard in the court.

These changes are expected to reduce the cost of lower value IP litigation and will more clearly differentiate the PCC from the High Court.

The Ministry of Justice has recently introduced the changes in relation to the court procedures and costs regime via amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules. The Intellectual Property Office has responsibility for introducing the third measure; a limit on the value of claims heard in the PCC. The IPCUC suggested a limit of £500,000. The purpose of the consultation, which launched on Friday 22nd October is to establish whether this level is appropriate. The intellectual property office is seeking comments on this and in particular any evidence which may inform the impact assessment. See their website for more information.

There have been previous consultations on the principle of the measure which are outlined in the consultation document. The focus of this consultation is on setting the appropriate level of the limit.

Therefore please send any comments to the following address by Friday 03
DECEMBER 2010:

PCC Financial Limit Consultation,
Copyright and IP Enforcement Directorate Room 3B49,
UK Intellectual Property Office,
Concept House,
Cardiff Road,
Newport,
Gwent
NP10 8QQ

E-mail:
Fax: +44 (0) 1633 814922