Is your website being copied by competitors?
I want to pursue a competitor for copying my website but intellectual property litigation in the High Court is so expensive. Do I have any alternatives?
Many small to medium-sized companies feel they can't afford to stop rivals infringing their intellectual property, but now there is a cheaper and faster way to stop competitors in their tracks.
The Patents County Court (PCC) offers an alternative to High Court litigation, with a streamlined and cost effective means of pursuing a potential infringer. Even better, a PCC small claims service - similar to that for general civil matters - will soon be introduced for intellectual property owners, with a fixed costs scale if parties' damages are �5,000 or less.
This new small claims service follows recommendations made by the Hargreaves Review that indicated that approximately 17% of SME's had given up enforcing their intellectual property rights due to High Court costs.
This will be a great help to SME's who have previously allowed less serious infringements to continue as the costs of litigating were too high. This new route to justice should help brand and Intellectual Property owners maintain the value of their intellectual property by stopping infringements or copying both quickly and economically.
It should also enable businesses to concentrate time, effort and budget on developing new ideas and actually trading rather than on legal battles.
In addition to the new small claims service the Government has also announced other new measures aimed at helping small and medium sized firms protect their intellectual property. These include an online business advisor training tool and an online register of advisors to help businesses find the right professional to guide them through the intellectual property maze quickly and easily.
A further development aimed at SMEs will be free intellectual property audits through groups such as the Technology Strategy Board.
These measures form part of the Government's Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth, which aims to boost investment in research and innovation across the UK.
For more information on this or any Intellectual Property issue, please contact: