High Court: Intellectual Property Enterprise Court judgments, 2023

In passing off, proof of misrepresentation and goodwill completes the tort, but substantial damages require proof of loss. Loss may include diverted profits…

Where a party fails to attend trial, the court may proceed in its absence under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 39.3, having regard to the overriding…

For patent validity, a claim must be construed purposively in context, while giving effect to deliberate limitations in its language. A claimed “switch”…

Goodwill is attached to the business to which it relates. Whether a sale transfers goodwill depends on the proper construction of the transaction documents and…

A party seeking invalidity under relative grounds must be the proprietor or a qualifying licensee of the earlier trade mark when the application is made. A…

An English court designated as an EU trade mark court before IP completion day retains jurisdiction over proceedings concerning EU trade marks instituted…

An account of profits is distinct from an inquiry as to damages. Once elected, it seeks to strip the infringer’s profits and does not compensate the claimant…

Summary judgment and strike out are exceptional where the pleaded case raises a realistic factual dispute. A realistic prospect is more than an arguable case…

A court hearing proceedings instituted before the end of the EU withdrawal transition period may retain jurisdiction under Chapter X of the Trade Mark…

UK unregistered design right requires originality both in the copyright sense and in the statutory sense that the design is not commonplace. A minor alteration…

Goodwill in a shared business name may be owned jointly, separately by different businesses, or severed geographically, depending on the parties’ agreement and…

An ‘unless’ order for non-payment of interim costs is discretionary. The court must consider the overriding objective and all relevant circumstances, including…

Passing off protects goodwill in a business, rather than property in a name, mark or get-up. Goodwill requires a business with customers in the jurisdiction…

Copyright infringement requires actual copying. Actual copying requires access to the copyright work, although access may be inferred from the possibility of…

Statutory acquiescence under section 48 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 requires five years’ acquiescence in use of a registered trade mark. Time begins only when…

Infringement of a registered design is assessed by asking whether the accused design produces a different overall impression on the informed user. The court…

A wasted costs order is compensatory, not punitive or regulatory. The applicant must establish that the legal representative’s improper, unreasonable or…