Spotlight on intellectual property infringement cases following movement of IPEC small claims to Manchester

It was recently announced that, as of 3 July 2023, all claims filed in the Small Claims Track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) will be transferred to Manchester to be managed by District Judges at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre. This is both a welcome reflection of the prestige of the regions across the wider legal sector and a reminder of the Courts’ focus on costs proportionality across both intellectual property and broader commercial disputes.

What is the IPEC small claims track?

The IPEC is a specialist list within the Business and Property Courts of the High Court. The intention behind the establishment of the IPEC was to provide an alternative forum to hear intellectual property disputes in a more cost effective and specialised manner.

The Small Claims Track of the IPEC is set up to hear more straightforward and lower value intellectual property disputes, where the value of the claim is less than £10,000. The process is highly streamlined and is particularly likely to appeal in less complex copyright claims. However, IPEC Small Claims can still award non-monetary remedies which are of a significant value to the rights holder (such as injunctions).

How will the changes apply to new cases?

From 3 July 2023, any claims filed in the IPEC Small Claims Track (either online or in person in London) will be transferred to Manchester, to be case managed and heard in Manchester.

Parties will have to make a formal application to have the claim transferred out of Manchester to London or the regions (Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool or Newcastle), and such transfer will only be permitted to take place where there are “good reasons” to do so. This is most likely to apply where a trial (a) must be in person and (b) will cause substantial difficulties if held in Manchester. Although there has not yet been sufficient opportunity to see how the Court will apply these rules in practice, it is anticipated that cases where transfer outside of Manchester is considered appropriate and proportionate will be few and far between.

Under the current rules, this change will only affect matters in the Small Claims Track - any IPEC matters outside of this track will be unaffected – and will not apply to existing claims issued in IPEC prior to 3 July 2023.

Why Manchester?

It comes as little surprise to those in the sector that there has been a move towards the regions, or more specifically that Manchester has been chosen as the appropriate forum.

Across commercial disputes we are seeing a significant shift in the costs treatment of matters of lower value (see, for example, the Fixed Recoverable Costs regime to come into effect from 1 October 2023 for all commercial claims valued at less than £100,000), and a key factor ensuring proportionality in dealing with disputes is the lower legal cost of pursuing matters outside of London.

We have also seen first-hand the reputation that Manchester has now established in the legal sector in recent years, culminating in the sitting of the Supreme Court in Manchester in March 2023, for the first time the Court has ever sat outside of a capital city. The Supreme Court, which, as the highest court in the country, plays a crucial role in the development of the laws of England and Wales, heard cases of particular importance to the city during its time sitting in Manchester, such as the long running dispute between the Manchester Ship Canal Company and United Utilities (Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd (Appellant) v United Utilities Water Ltd (Respondent) No 2 UKSC 2022/0121).

How can Hill Dickinson help on intellectual property matters?

The volume of intellectual property disputes appears to have been on an upward trajectory in recent years. With cases involving everyone from Aldi to Ed Sheeran making the headlines, the prevalence of intellectual property in popular media is almost certainly finding its way into the commercial consciousness. The fast development of Artificial Intelligence and the copyright issues arising as a result are also gaining attention even outside of the technology space.

Thankfully, this resurgence, although increasingly impacting on commercial entities, is equally serving as a necessary reminder to all businesses of the continuing importance of developing a solid and consistent intellectual property strategy and of considering the options available for resolution at an early stage when any disputes do arise so as to avoid any public and costly litigation wherever possible.

Hill Dickinson is able to assist across a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters relating to a variety of intellectual property rights, such as copyright, trade marks, design rights, domain names and patents.

Hill Dickinson is also able to assist across matters and disputes of all sizes and can assist, for example, in the development of a proportionate and cost effective strategy for dealing with IPEC claims of all sizes, including those proceeding through the Small Claims Track.

For further assistance with any IP related issues, please contact Laura Scott.