The change has been made to better reflect* the scope of the court’s authority which has always covered more than just patents.
Of course, there’s more to it than just a new name – in addition, costs recoverable by the winner from the loser will be capped at £50,000 so everyone has a better idea of their maximum exposure from the outset. Furthermore, trials will be limited to 1-2 to keep costs down, and there is now a Small Claims Track (i.e. a “small claims court”) for copyright, trade mark and unregistered design cases worth less than £10,000.
The IPEC has also been given a bit of a promotion as it is now formally a specialist subdivision of the High Court. Minister for Intellectual Property, Lord Younger, said the changes would make it easier and more cost effective for businesses to deal with disputes about intellectual property, a sentiment the Federation for Small Businesses broadly concurred with.
Given this irresistible brand offering, BrandSoup wonders which of our friends will be the first to pay a visit to IPEC? Please form an orderly queue outside our offices!
(*if this grammatical (mis)construction makes you cringe, bear in mind that Enterprises and split infinitives have a long and proud history!)