Without much publicity (both inside and outside of the world of IP), fundamental reforms to the procedure for IP enforcement at the Patents County Court (PCC) have come into effect.
Basically, the PCC offers a more streamlined and cost effective forum for low value/complexity claims. Designed for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), costs are capped at £50,000. The form of proceedings sits somewhere between proceedings before the UKIPO, the EPO and the High Court. Damages are due to be limited to £500,000 by legislation coming into force in April 2011.
The changes are summarised by the UKIPO here.
The reforms are discussed by Field Fisher Waterhouse here. [Update: details of the first case management conference have been published; see here]
Patlit has a useful two-part guide here and here.
The Spark comments on the transfer of cases from the High Court here (also discussed by Patlit here).
