Recent cases

Motion Picture Association v BT (Newzbin 2)28 July 2011Adrian Speck appeared with Richard Spearman QC for the members of the Motion Picture Association at a hearing before Mr Justice Arnold in which the MPA successfully obtained a novel order against BT under s. 97A CDPA. The order prevents BT’s customers from visiting the Newzbin webpage, which makes available pirate versions of films, TV […]
International Arbitration28 July 2011John Baldwin QC and Iona Berkeley have just finished an international arbitration in Singapore. The dispute concerned the interpretation of a trade mark coexistence agreement entered into in order to resolve several local disputes in SE Asia. The issue was the extent to which the parties’ agreement about the likelihood of confusion in specific territories […]
LG v Sony Computer Entertainment27 July 2011Daniel Alexander QC and Andrew Lykiardopoulos acted for Sony in successfully defending this application for summary judgment in this patent dispute concerning Sony’s PlayStation 3 players. LG applied for summary judgment on whether a piece of prior art could be relied upon as being “made available to the public” in circumstances where to obtain it […]
ITV Broadcasting v TVCatchup Ltd [2011] EWHC 1874 (Pat)18 July 2011In a copyright action relating to internet streaming, James Mellor QC and Jessie Bowhill acted for the claimant broadcasters (ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) in a trial against TVCatchup Ltd, represented by Martin Howe QC and James Whyte. Charlotte May appeared for the Secretary of State. The defendant operated a service that (despite its […]
The Estate of Adrian Jacobs v Bloomsbury Publishing and JK Rowling14 July 2011John Baldwin QC and Adrian Speck acted for J K Rowling in her successful attempt to have dismissed proceedings brought against her alleging that the Harry Potter books and, in particular Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, were infringements of copyright. Miss Rowling alleged that the claim against her was absolutely hopeless but last […]
Sanofi-Aventis (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd v Fresenius Kabi (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd5 July 2011In this case in the High Court of Malaya at Kuala Lumpur, Martin Howe QC appeared as an expert witness for the plaintiffs and George Hamer as expert witness for the defendants on patent law and in particular on the law relevant to purposive construction of patent claims.
Cephalon v Orchid & Mylan24 June 2011Michael Tappin QC and Adrian Speck acted for the defendants in successfully resisting an application by the claimant patentees for an interim injunction to prevent launch of a generic modafinil product.  In recent years, patentees in pharmaceutical cases have generally succeeded in obtaining interim injunctions to prevent generic launch, but Michael and Adrian persuaded Mr […]
Schutz (UK) Ltd v Werit UK Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 303 and [2011] EWCA Civ 92722 June 2011Patent infringement case relating to the issue of making/repair of intermediate bulk containers and payment of costs and damages during a period of non-registration of an exclusive licence. Currently on appeal to the Supreme Court.
Beechwood House Publishing (t/a Binleys) v Guardian Products [2011] EWPCC 2220 June 2011Jonathan Hill acted for the successful claimant in the trial of a database right infringement claim brought by a supplier of healthcare data against a competitor which had obtained and used data taken from the claimant’s database. The case involved the first application by the English courts of the European Court of Justice’s guidance in […]
National Licensing Agency v Meltwater & the PRCA16 June 2011Andrew Lykiardopoulos acted in this appeal concerning copyright protection in newspaper headlines and in extracts appearing in news search engine results.