The Civil Procedure Rules 1998

[F1 Scope of this Part and interpretation E+W

63.1.— (1) This Part applies to all intellectual property claims including—

(a) registered intellectual property rights such as—

(i) patents;

(ii) registered designs; and

(iii) registered trade marks; and

(b) unregistered intellectual property rights such as—

(i) copyright;

(ii) design right;

(iii) the right to prevent passing off; and

(iv) the other rights set out in [F2 Practice Direction 63].

(2) In this Part—

(a) “the 1977 Act” means the Patents Act 1977;

(b) “the 1988 Act” means the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988;

(c) “the 1994 Act” means the Trade Marks Act 1994;

(d) “the Comptroller” means the Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks;

(e) “patent” means a patent under the 1977 Act or a supplementary protection certificate granted by the Patent Office under Article 10(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1768/92 or of Regulation (EC) No. 1610/96 of the European Parliament and the Council and includes any application for a patent or supplementary protection certificate;

(f) “Patents Court” means the Patents Court of the High Court constituted as part of the Chancery Division by section 6(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981;

[F3 (g) ‘Intellectual Property Enterprise Court’ means a specialist list established within the Chancery Division of the High Court;]

[F4 (h) ‘enterprise judge’ means a judge authorised by the Chancellor of the High Court to sit in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court;]

F5 (i) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(j) “the register” means whichever of the following registers is appropriate—

(i) patents maintained by the Comptroller under section 32 of the 1977 Act;

(ii) designs maintained by the registrar under section 17 of the Registered Designs Act 1949;

(iii) trade marks maintained by the registrar under section 63 of the 1994 Act;

F6 (iv) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F7 (v) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(vi) plant varieties maintained by the Controller under regulation 12 of the Plant Breeders’ Rights Regulations 1998; and

F8 (vii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(k) “the registrar” means—

(i) the registrar of trade marks; or

(ii) the registrar of registered designs,

whichever is appropriate.

(3) [F9 Save as provided in rule 63.27, claims] to which this Part applies are allocated to the multi-track. [F10 Rule 26.3(1) applies save for the modification that the court will send the parties a notice requiring the parties to file proposed directions by the date specified in the notice. For a claim which is allocated to the multi-track by this rule, rule 26.3(1B) and rules 26.4 to 26.10 do not apply.]]

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. 63 substituted (1.10.2009) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2009 (S.I. 2009/2092), rule 1(2), Sch. 1

F2 Words in rule 63.1(1)(b)(iv) substituted (6.4.2010) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.2) Rules 2009 (S.I. 2009/3390), rules 1(2), 38(a)

F3 Rule 63.1(2)(g) substituted (1.10.2013) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.7) Rules 2013 (S.I. 2013/1974), rules 2, 26(b)(i)

F4 Rule 63.1(2)(h) substituted (1.10.2013) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.7) Rules 2013 (S.I. 2013/1974), rules 2, 26(b)(ii)

F5 Rule 63.1(2)(i) omitted (6.4.2010) by virtue of The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.2) Rules 2009 (S.I. 2009/3390), rules 1(2), 38(b)

F6 Rule 63.1(2)(j)(iv) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/521), regs. 1(1), 13(2) (with reg. 24) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1493, regs. 1(1), 9(2)(g); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F7 Rule 63.1(2)(j)(v) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/521), regs. 1(1), 13(2) (with reg. 24) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1493, regs. 1(1), 9(2)(g); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F8 Rule 63.1(2)(j)(vii) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/521), regs. 1(1), 13(2) (with reg. 24) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1493, regs. 1(1), 9(2)(g); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F9 Words in rule 63.1(3) substituted (1.10.2012) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.2) Rules 2012 (S.I. 2012/2208), rules 1, 10(b)

F10 Words in rule 63.1(3) inserted (1.10.2013) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.7) Rules 2013 (S.I. 2013/1974), rules 2, 26(c)