More in
New Patents County Court law set to benefit SMEs
A new law comes into force this week that will give small and medium-sized businesses easier access to justice to protect their patent and design rights.
The Patents County Court (Financial Limit) Order 2011 creates a clearer definition of what disputes can be heard in the Patents County Court (PCC) and which ones should go to the High Court. Previously, a business with a legal case worth less than £500,000 could face litigation in either court, with unknown levels of financial risk.
But a damages cap of £500,000 for claims made in the PCC means small companies claiming damages up to that amount are less likely to face a potentially more expensive trip to the High Court.
The change in law will ensure that lower-value, less-complex cases, which would typically involve small businesses, will automatically fall within the jurisdiction of the lower, cheaper PCC. Therefore, the risk of having costly disputes over where the case should be heard will be reduced. In the past, some companies were put off protecting their rights due to the uncertainty of how much it would cost.
Register now to continue reading
Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.
Benefits of registering
-
In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends
-
Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year
-
Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox
National Gas receives funding to develop Gravitricity underground hydrogen storage system
One single rock salt mine - Winsford - has 23 <i>MILLION </i>cubic metres of void and even allowing for 10% of that void set aside for hazardous waste...