At the BCC meeting held on 9th November a recommendation that Nicola Solomon, Chief Executive of the Society of Authors be the BCC’s representative on the Patents County Court Users Committee was given unanimous support by the members.
The BCC is also pleased that the Government has confirmed that a new small claims track will be introduced at the Patents County Court (PCC). The recommendation for a small claims track to resolve IP disputes has been supported by the BCC in a number of its submissions to Government. The recommendation was made by Lord Justice Jackson in his Review of Civil Litigation Costs in January 2010 and was endorsed in the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth in May 2011. The small claims track should come into effect during 2012. For more information see the joint IPO and Ministry of Justice press release at www.ipo.gov.uk.