On 26 September, the Patent Office launched a consultation on the introduction of representative actions for the enforcement of intellectual property rights. This has been prompted by Article 4 of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Directive (2004/48/EC) which sets out that persons entitled to apply for the remedies set out in the Directive must include, as well as right-holders and licensees, collective rights management bodies and professional defence bodies. When the directive was implemented in the UK, through the Intellectual Property (Enforcement etc) Regulations, Article 4 was not included and the Patent Office announced that it would be conducting a public consultation on the issue. It has now done so.
The aim of the consultation is to establish whether representative actions will provide real benefits, particularly for SME's, in terms of litigation costs while not encouraging inappropriate litigation. The consultation will end on 18 December.
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