Ever wondered what a court case in the UK involves? TV dramatisations often show the trial but there are numerous steps leading up to the trial – if the case even reaches trial at all. But first, what is a civil court case?
In the UK, two types of courts make up the judicial system: courts dealing with criminal matters, and courts dealing with civil matters. Ignoring the criminal courts, civil courts provide a resolution to a dispute between individuals and/or companies by examining the evidence and applying the law. Examples of disputes heard in civil courts include a contract dispute, a dispute about real estate, or even Intellectual Property (IP). The term “court case” refers to the series of steps leading up to and including the resolution, and we will now consider these steps in more depth in relation to an IP dispute.
Where a first party, called the Claimant, has a grievance against a second party, called the defendant, the first step in a case is to narrow the issues. In practice, this involves the parties exchanging letters. The Claimant sets out their grievance (for example, infringement of their patent by the defendant) and what they seek from the other party (e.g. ceasing the infringement, and damages). The Defendant responds by agreeing or disputing the grievance, and optionally, laying out a grievance of their own. These rounds of letters are generally referred to as the Pre-action.
Where one or more rounds of Pre-action letters fail to resolve the matter, the second step is to issue a Claim. In practice, the Claimant fills in a Claim form which formally sets out the grievance and remedies sought (such as damages) and files it at a relevant UK civil court. The court allocates a number and apposes the court seal, formally starting the Claim process.
In an IP dispute, the claimant may have a choice of Court where they can bring the dispute, depending on various factors such as the amount of damages sought, or the type of IP right. The various Courts have slightly different rules on how the court case is conducted. For example, if the dispute is brought to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court or “IPEC”, cost caps apply both to the case overall (£50,000 GBP) and for each step of the progress, unlike the Patents Court or the High Court. The value of the Claim is also limited to £500,000 GBP in IPEC, whereas the Patents Court or High Court deals with Claims starting at £100,000 GBP.
The third step is for the Claimant to give or send the Claim form to the defendant. This is called Service. The Defendant usually responds by filing a formal Defence to the Claim, and optionally a Counterclaim. If a Counterclaim is filed, the Claimant must respond to the Counterclaim.
During the subsequent Case Management Conference or “CMC”, the parties and the Court agree on a timetable of actions to be undertaken by each party. Shortly prior to the CMC, the parties also provide each other their budgets – this is an estimation of the costs (incurred and forecasted) of each step. The budgets are generally negotiated down, agreed by the parties and submitted to the Court. The budgets will be important at the end of the trial.
Disclosure is typically the next step. During disclosure, parties disclose to each other documents in their possession which are relevant to the case, to help resolve the dispute. The documents can be emails, letters, memos, notes, sale receipts, or any other documentary evidence, for example. This raises an important point: from the moment litigation is on the horizon, the various parties need to take steps to safeguard any documents which could be relevant to the court case (even if detrimental to their case).
Witness statements and/or expert reports may be drawn up at this stage. These set out factual accounts by a witness or an expert. In some cases, experiments may even be conducted, if required.
Following disclosure, any experiments, witness statements and reports, the next step may be a hearing, called a Pre-trial review. The Pre-trial review usually takes place in complex cases or where the trial is expected to be lengthy. The Pre-trial review checks that each party has done what they set out to do in the CMC and sets the date of the actual trial.
Following the Pre-trial review, the legal teams of the Claimant and the Defendant prepare for the actual trial. This generally includes, for example, reading up on the law, finding previous court cases that can help their client’s case and writing up skeleton arguments that will be presented in court.
On the big day (or days if the trial lasts more than one day), each side presents their case and the judge decides who wins the case. The judge may also award remedies. In the case of a dispute relating to patent infringement, if the Claimant wins, the remedies usually include one or more of: an injunction to cease the infringement, an order for delivery up or destruction of infringing products, damages or account of profit, a declaration that the patent is valid and infringed, and costs.
In relation to costs, the general rule is that the loser pays the winner’s costs, although the Court has discretion to depart from this rule. Once the Judgment has been issued, the Court sets about determining the amount of costs to be paid and generally follows the agreed budgets – hence the importance of agreeing the budgets.
Overall, litigation is a lengthy process involving many steps. Losing is costly due to the general rule of the loser pays the winner’s costs. The court system in the UK is geared towards and encourages parties to arrive at an out of court settlement such as during the Pre-action stage. Alternative Dispute Resolution methods, such as negotiation, mediation or arbitration, are heavily encouraged. Nevertheless, there are also benefits to a court case, such as the publicity. A favourable decision handed down by a judge can also be a powerful deterrent to competitors.
You should now have a clearer understanding of what a civil court case in the UK involves, which may be useful if you ever receive a letter alleging that you are infringing another party’s IP rights during the above-described Pre-action stage. Conversely, if you find that another party is infringing your IP rights and wish to enforce your IP rights but need help doing so, please do not hesitate to contact Albright IP.
If you have any patent queries, please contact us via email, by telephone: +44 (0) 1242 691 801, or using the form below and we will be happy to advise and guide you.
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