Archive for the ‘Designs’ Category

New proposals to cut the cost of intellectual property litigation in the UK

Tuesday August 4th 2009, by Piers Strickland

The cost of running intellectual property ligation (i.e. litigation concerning patents, trade marks, designs, copyright etc) in the UK can often run into millions.  As a result, many SMEs are effectively barred from engaging in intellectual property litigation.  This is a serious issue as it constitutes a barrier to SMEs having access to justice.

A new set of proposals by some of the leading individuals involved in intellectual property law, the Intellectual Property Court Users’ Committee, has set out to try and reduce this injustice and produced a report.

The report points out that the (London) Patents County Court has failed in one of its key aims: to offer a more cost-effective alternative to litigating intellectual property rights in England and Wales, as opposed to the High Court in London.  There are several proposals made by the Intellectual Property Court Users’ Committee, but one of the most significant is the proposal to limit costs recovery from the losing party from £25,000-£50,000 for intellectual property litigation.

If the government acts upon the proposals of the Intellectual Property Court Users’ Committee and make such proposals legally binding in terms of the Civil Procedure Rules, then this might go a significant way towards making legal proceedings in the UK more affordable, in the way in which other countries have already provided for.

As such, the proposals have the support of Strickland LLP, which is committed to providing IP litigation services to range of companies, from SMEs through the large blue-chip companies.

  • Share/Save/Bookmark
RSS

If you commission designors – beware!

Friday July 17th 2009, by Piers Strickland

A recent decision by the European Court of Justice has confirmed that under the European Design Regulation (which governs the EU-wide “Community Design Right”), the commissioner of a design does not automatically become the first owner of that design right.  The European Design Regulation provides that:

“…where a design is developed by an employee in the execution of his duties or
following the instructions given by his employer, the right to the Community design shall vest in
the employer, unless otherwise agreed or specified under national law.”

However, under the European Design Regulation, there is no mention of a commissioner of a design being the first owner of the design right, where there is no employee-employer relationship.

Under UK law, the position is different with respect to unregistered designs.  Specifically, in the UK, under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the first owner of a commissioned unregistered design will be the commissioner (section 215(2)).

COMMENT: This decision is not surprising and simply re-inforces the point that commissioners of designs should ensure that there is a written agreement in place governing who is to own the design right in question.  Although, for example in the UK, national provisions may provide relief in some circumstances to commissioners, it is best practice to confirm the position in advance as to who is to be the owner of the design right in question to avoid disappointment.

  • Share/Save/Bookmark
RSS