The County Court (Amendment) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2006

Made: 14th December 2006

Coming into operation: 8th January 2007

The County Court Rules Committee makes the following Rules in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 47 of the County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1980[^f00001].

Citation

1

These Rules may be cited as the County Court (Amendment) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2006.

Amendment to the County Court Rules (Northern Ireland) 1981

2

In Order 14 (Interlocutory applications), after rule 10A (Application under Article 42A(1) or 42B(3) of the Order), insert—

(10B) (1) When an application is made to which Directive 2004/48/EC[^f00003] applies, the Judge may grant an interim order making the continuation of an alleged infringement subject to guarantees. (2) Where the Judge grants an order ex parte to which Directive 2004/48/EC applies, such order shall be granted only on terms providing for the issue of the civil bill and such other terms, if any, as the Judge thinks fit.

3

In Order 19 (Assessors), rule 5 (Remuneration) for “£28.10” substitute“£31.04”.

4

In Order 24 (Evidence), rule 9 (Witness summons) in paragraph (7)(a)—

• (a) for “£11.00” substitute “£12.15”; and

• (b) for “£15.50” substitute “£17.12”.

5

In Order 33 (Decrees), rule 10 (Stay of execution and removal thereof) in paragraph (6) for “£6.38” substitute “£7.05”.

6

In Order 45 (Funds in Court) for rules 2 (Investment) and 3 (Interpretation), substitute the new rules set out in Schedule 1 to these Rules.

7

In Order 52 (Miscellaneous Enactments), in rule 13 (Application for forfeiture orders under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988)—

• (a) for paragraph 1, substitute “An application under section 114, 204, or 231 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48) or an application under section 97 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (c. 26) shall be made by Notice in Form 323.”;

• (b) in paragraph 2, for “under section 58C of the Trade Marks Act 1938,” substitute “under section 97 of the Trade Marks Act 1994,”; and

• (c) after paragraph 3, insert—

(4) Where the Judge makes an order for delivery up, forfeiture or destruction of infringing goods or articles designed or adapted to make such goods the defendant shall pay the costs of complying with the order unless the Judge orders otherwise. (5) Without prejudice to any other provisions of these Rules, the Judge may, where he finds that an intellectual property right has been infringed, order appropriate measures for the dissemination and publication of the judgment to be made at the expense of the defendant.

8

In Order 55 (Costs)—

• (a) in rule 14 (Costs in undefended cases) in paragraphs (1) and (2) for “Table 3” substitute “Table 2”; and

• (b) in rule 17 (Services fee for postal service) for “£2.37” substitute “£2.62”.

9

In Order 56 (County Court seal and authentication of documents)—

• (a) in rule 1 (County Court seal), omit “which shall incorporate the name of the division”; and

• (b) after rule 4 (Documents to be sealed) insert—

(5) The county court seal may be affixed by placing the seal on the relevant document— (a) by hand; or (b) by printing a facsimile of the seal on the document whether electronically or otherwise.

10

In Appendix 1 (Forms) in Form 323 for “Application for order under section 114, 204 or 231 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under section 58C of the Trade Marks Act 1938” substitute “Application for order under section 114, 204 or 231 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under section 97 of the Trade Marks Act 1994”.

11

For Appendix 2 substitute the new Appendix 2 set out in Schedule 2 to these Rules.

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 2

Signed

The undersigned members of the County Court Rules Committee certify these Rules and submit them to the Lord Chancellor.

T. A. Burgess — Philip Babington — Hilary Keegan — Barry Valentine — Brian F. Walker — Brian J. Stewart — Adrian Colton — Dated 15th November 2006

In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 47(4) of the County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 19 80 and after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice I allow these Rules which shall come into operation on 8th January 2007

Signed by the authority of the Lord Chancellor

Bridget Prentice — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — Department for Constitutional Affairs — Dated 14th December 2006

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend the County Court Rules (Northern Ireland) 1981 (“the principal Rules”) to:

• implement the European Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Directive 2004/48/EC) by making provision for the court to make an interim order making the continuation of an alleged infringement of an intellectual property right subject to guarantees, by providing that where the court grants a remedy before the issue of proceedings, the remedy shall only be granted on terms providing for the issue of a civil bill and by amending the procedure relating to applications under the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988 and the Trade Marks Act 1994;

• remove references to the Trade Marks Act 1938, which has now been repealed;

• designate a list of securities in which the Accountant General may invest money paid into the county court by order of the court, in accordance with his powers under the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978;

• facilitate the use of a generic, electronic seal in the county court;

• uplift by 10.47% (rounded where appropriate) certain costs prescribed in the body of the principal Rules and the scale costs for solicitor and counsel prescribed in Appendix 2 of the principal Rules; and

• provide for judicial discretion to increase costs in discrimination cases under specified statutory provisions, where the amount decreed or, in the case of a dismiss, claimed exceeds £15,000.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1980/397 (N.I.3) to which the most recent relevant amendments were made by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4)

[^f00002]: S.R. 1981 No.225 to which the most recent relevant amendments were made by S.R. 1999 No. 464, S.R. 2002 No.412 and S.R. 2003 No. 272

[^f00003]: Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (2004/48/EC)(OJ L157, 30.4.2004)

[^f00004]: S.R. 2004 No. 335

[^f00005]: S.I. 2001 No. 1228

[^f00006]: 1978 c. 23

[^f00007]: 2000 c. 8

[^f00008]: 1988 c. 1

[^f00009]: S.I. 1978/1050 (N.I.20).

[^f00010]: S.I. 1978/1050 (N.I.20).

[^f00011]: S.I. 1977/1247 (N.I.14).

[^f00012]: S.I. 1988/793 (N.I.4).

[^f00013]: 1996 c. 22.

[^f00014]: 2000 c. 11.