Law Commission of England Final Report on Patents, Trade Marks and Designs: Unjustified Threats

The Law Commission of England and Wales this week published a final report on Patents, Trade Marks and Designs: Unjustified Threats along with a draft bill for consideration by the UK Parliament:

"Patents, trade marks and design rights are valuable intellectual property (IP) rights and a vital foundation of economic growth. These rights ensure that innovation is rewarded and encouraged. The law provides a means by which they can be effectively enforced; however, this can be misused to stifle new ideas and competition. The mere threat of infringement proceedings is capable of causing significant commercial damage to a business by driving customers away."

The Commission is proposing new legal provisions to:

• protect retailers, suppliers and customers against threats,
• provide more certainty over what approaches can be made legitimately to potential infringers,
• bring more clarity over when businesses can safely threaten competitors who do infringe their IP rights, and
• protect professional advisers from being sued for making threats when they act for their clients