Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill Passed by Parliament

The House of Commons passed a Bill yesterday amending provisions relating to unjustified threats to bring proceedings for infringement of patent, trade mark and design rights. The amended legislation can be enacted into the UK's national law following royal assent.

Full details of the amended provisions can be found here. The amendments follow a Law Commission project to simplify and clarify threats provisions and harmonise these across different IP rights. The law as amended clarifies communications relating to IP rights that will be regarded as actionable unjustified threats of infringement. It also introduces guidance on permitted communications exempt from threats actions. The revised threats provisions will be applicable to threats in relation to infringement in the UK of Unitary Patents under the jurisdiction of the planned Unified Patents Court.

If you have any queries in relation to actions that can be taken when an IP right is suspected to have been infringed, please feel free to contact us.