Part 63 PATENTS AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CLAIMS

Contents of this Part
Title	Number
Scope of this Part and interpretation	Rule 63.1
Application of the Civil Procedure Rules	Rule 63.2
I PATENTS AND REGISTERED DESIGNS
Scope of Section I	Rule 63.3
Specialist list	Rule 63.4
Patents Judge	Rule 63.4A
Starting the claim	Rule 63.5
Defence and reply	Rule 63.6
Case management	Rule 63.7
Disclosure and inspection	Rule 63.8
Claim for infringement and challenge to validity	Rule 63.9
Application to amend a patent specification in existing proceedings	Rule 63.10
Court's determination of question or application	Rule 63.11
Application by employee for compensation	Rule 63.12
II REGISTERED TRADE MARKS AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Allocation	Rule 63.13
Claims under the 1994 Act	Rule 63.14
Claim for infringement of registered trade mark	Rule 63.15
III SERVICE
Service	Rule 63.16
IV APPEALS
Appeals from the Comptroller	Rule 63.17

Scope of this Part and interpretation

63.1

(1) This Part applies to all intellectual property claims including –

(a) registered intellectual property rights such as –

(i) patents;

(ii) registered designs; and

(iii) registered trade marks; and

(b) unregistered intellectual property rights such as –

(i) copyright;

(ii) design right;

(iii) the right to prevent passing off; and

(iv) the other rights set out in the practice direction.

(2) In this Part –

(a) ‘the 1977 Act’ means the Patents Act 1977¹;

(b) ‘the 1988 Act’ means the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988²;

(d) ‘the Comptroller’ means the Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks;

(e) ‘patent’ means a patent under the 1977 Act and includes any application for a patent or supplementary protection certificate granted under –

(i) the Patents (Supplementary Protection Certificates) Rules 1997⁴;

(ii) the Patents (Supplementary Protection Certificate for Medicinal Products) Regulations 1992⁵; and

(iii) the Patents (Supplementary Protection Certificate for Plant Protection Products) Regulations 1996⁶;

(f) ‘Patents Court’ means the Patents Court of the High Court constituted as part of the Chancery Division by section 6(1) of the Supreme Court Act 1981⁷;

(g) ‘Patents County Court’ means a county court designated as a Patents County Court under section 287(1) of the 1988 Act;

(gg) ‘patents judge’ means a person nominated under section 291(1) of the 1988 Act as the patents judge of a patents county court;

(h) ‘the register’ means whichever of the following registers is appropriate –

(i) patents maintained by the Comptroller under section 32 of the 1977 Act;

(ii) designs maintained by the registrar under section 17 of the Registered Designs Act 1949⁸;

(iii) trade marks maintained by the registrar under section 63 of the 1994 Act;

(iv) Community trade marks maintained by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market under Article 83 of Council Regulation (EC) 40/94⁹; and

(v) Community designs maintained by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market under Article 72 of Council Regulation (EC) 6/2002¹⁰; and

(i) ‘the registrar’ means –

(i) the registrar of trade marks; or

(ii) the registrar of registered designs,

whichever is appropriate.

(3) Claims to which this Part applies are allocated to the multi-track.

Application of the Civil Procedure Rules

63.2

These Rules and their practice directions apply to intellectual property claims unless this Part or a practice direction provides otherwise.

I PATENTS AND REGISTERED DESIGNS

Scope of Section I

63.3

(1) This Section of this Part applies to claims in –

(a) the Patents Court; and

(b) a Patents County Court.

(2) Claims in the court include any claim relating to matters arising out of –

(a) the 1977 Act;

(b) the Registered Designs Act 1949; and

Specialist list

63.4

Claims in the Patents Court and a Patents County Court form specialist lists for the purpose of rule 30.5.

Patents Judge

63.4A

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), proceedings in the patents county court shall be dealt with by the patents judge.

(2) When a matter needs to be dealt with urgently and it is not practicable or appropriate for the patents judge to deal with such matter, the matter may be dealt with by another judge with appropriate specialist experience who shall be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor.

Starting the claim

63.5

Claims to which this Section of this Part applies must be started –

(a) by issuing a Part 7 claim form; or

(b) in existing proceedings under Part 20.

Defence and reply

63.6

Part 15 applies with the modification –

(a) to rule 15.4 that in a claim for infringement under rule 63.9, the defence must be filed within 42 days of service of the claim form; and

(b) to rule 15.8 that the claimant must –

(i) file any reply to a defence; and

(ii) serve it on all other parties,

within 21 days of service of the defence.

Case management

63.7

(1) Omitted

(2) Part 26 and any other rule that requires a party to file an allocation questionnaire do not apply.

(3) The following provisions only of Part 29 apply –

(a) rule 29.3(2) (legal representatives to attend case management conferences);

(b) rule 29.4 (the court's approval of agreed proposals for the management of proceedings); and

(4) As soon as practicable the court will hold a case management conference which must be fixed in accordance with the practice direction.

Disclosure and inspection

63.8

Part 31 is modified to the extent set out in the practice direction.

Claim for infringement and challenge to validity

63.9

(1) In a claim for infringement or an application in which the validity of a patent or registered design is challenged, the statement of case must contain particulars as set out in the practice direction.

(2) In a claim for infringement, the period for service of the defence or Part 20 claim is 42 days after service of the claim form.

Application to amend a patent specification in existing proceedings

63.10

(1) An application under section 75 of the 1977 Act for permission to amend the specification of a patent by the proprietor of the patent must be made by application notice.

(2) The application notice must –

(a) give particulars of –

(i) the proposed amendment sought; and

(ii) the grounds upon which the amendment is sought;

(b) state whether the applicant will contend that the claims prior to amendment are valid; and

(3) The application notice must, if it is reasonably possible, be served on the Comptroller electronically.

(4) Unless the court otherwise orders, the Comptroller will forthwith advertise the application to amend in the journal.

(5) The advertisement will state that any person may apply to the Comptroller for a copy of the application notice.

(6) Within 14 days of the first appearance of the advertisement any person who wishes to oppose the application must file and serve on all parties and the Comptroller a notice opposing the application which must include the grounds relied on.

(7) Within 28 days of the first appearance of the advertisement the applicant must apply to the court for directions.

(8) Unless the court otherwise orders, the applicant must within 7 days serve on the Comptroller any order of the court on the application.

(9) In this rule, ‘the journal’ means the journal published pursuant to rules made under section 123(6) of the 1977 Act.

Court's determination of question or application

63.11

Where the Comptroller –

(a) declines to deal with a question under section 8(7), 12(2), 37(8) or 61(5) of the 1977 Act;

(b) declines to deal with an application under section 40(5) of the 1977 Act; or

(c) certifies under section 72(7)(b) of the 1977 Act that the court should determine the question whether a patent should be revoked,

any person seeking the court's determination of that question or application must issue a claim form within 14 days of the Comptroller's decision.

Application by employee for compensation

63.12

(1) An application by an employee for compensation under section 40(1) or (2) of the 1977 Act must be made –

(a) in a claim form; and

(b) within the period prescribed by paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) The prescribed period begins on the date of the grant of the patent and ends one year after the patent has ceased to have effect.

(3) Where a patent has ceased to have effect as a result of failure to pay the renewal fees within the period prescribed under rule 39 of the Patents Rules 1995¹², and an application for restoration is made to the Comptroller under section 28 of the 1977 Act, the period prescribed under paragraph (2) –

(a) if restoration is ordered, continues as if the patent had remained continuously in effect; or

(b) if restoration is refused, is treated as expiring one year after the patent ceased to have effect, or six months after the refusal, whichever is the later.

II REGISTERED TRADE MARKS AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Allocation

63.13

(1) This Section of this Part applies to –

(a) claims relating to matters arising out of the 1994 Act; and

(b) other intellectual property rights as set out in the practice direction.

(2) Omitted

(3) Claims to which this Section of this Part applies must be brought in –

(a) the Chancery Division;

(b) a Patents County Court; or

Claims under the 1994 Act

63.14

In a claim under the 1994 Act, the claim form or application notice must be served on the registrar where the relief sought would, if granted, affect an entry in the United Kingdom register.

Claim for infringement of registered trade mark

63.15

(1) In a claim for infringement of a registered trade mark the defendant may –

(a) in his defence, challenge the validity of the registration of the trade mark; and

(b) apply by Part 20 claim for –

(i) revocation of the registration;

(ii) a declaration that the registration is invalid; or

(iii) rectification of the register.

(2) Where a defendant applies under paragraph (1)(b) and the relief sought would, if granted, affect an entry in the United Kingdom register, he must serve on the registrar a copy of his claim form.

III SERVICE

Service

63.16

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), Part 6 applies to service of a claim form and any document under this Part.

(2) A claim form relating to a registered right may be served –

(a) on a party who has registered the right at the address for service given for that right in the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office register, provided the address is within the United Kingdom; or

(b) in accordance with rule 6.32(1), 6.33(1) or 6.33(2) on a party who has registered the right at the address for service given for that right in the appropriate register at –

(i) the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office; or

(ii) the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market.