Oxford LibGuides: Intellectual Property Law: Legislation &amp; cases

IP Legislation

For current UK legislation, holders of an Oxford SSO should use either of the subscription databases via first 2 links below.

Legislation.gov.uk is available to all on the free web. In the Library, the print Halsbury's Statutes and Current Law Statutes Annotated services in the KZ section on Level 2 can be used to track down the current state of legislation.

Lexis+ UK
For online access from a device outside the University network or via eduroam, please follow https://plus.lexis.com/uk/xhome?federationidp=RXVSX459307
Alternative names:Lexis ; LexisLibrary ; Lexis Library ; Lexis International

Lexis+ includes extensive primary and secondary legal materials from the UK, EU, USA and many other jurisdictions. It is the only online source for the full text of the All England Law Reports and Halsbury’s Laws. International content can be accessed by following the “International” link on the home page. UK legal news and newspapers are also included
Westlaw Edge UK
Alternative name: West Law UK ; Westlaw UK

Westlaw is a large database of UK, US and international legal materials including cases, legislation and journal articles.
Coverage:
•UK statutes, statutory instruments and law reports
•England and Wales law reports
•US federal and state legislation and law reports
•Australian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Canadian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Hong Kong SAR law reports and laws
•European Union legislation and law reports
•UK and US law journals and texts
•Common Law Library and over 200 books published by Sweet & Maxwell (Thomson Reuters)
Because of licencing restrictions this database is not available to "Walk-in" users of the library.

Legislation.gov.uk
Open access. Official site Use the drop down menu TYPE to limit search to public general acts or statutory instruments or browse by year etc. Excellent for original, historic version (text of act as originally promulgated) and Explanatory Notes for more recent legislation. Pay attention to the current status which is given for each act. More has further details of coverage
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All primary legislation from 1988
All secondary legislation from 1987, including UK Statutory Instruments, Scottish Statutory Instruments and Northern Ireland Statutory Rules. In addition we hold a selection of secondary legislation from 1948-1986, and selected pre-1948 Statutory Rules and Orders
Legislation originating from the EU as set out in Schedule 5 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16) along with corrigenda (correction slips for EU legislation) and EU Directives published up to the end of the EU Exit Implementation Period at 11:00 p.m. on 31 December 2020 ("IP completion day").
Most types of primary legislation (e.g. Acts, Measures, N.I. Orders in Council) are held in 'revised' form, as well as selected secondary legislation, and legislation originating from the EU:

Public General Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament (1801 to date)
Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain (1707 – 1800)
Acts of the English Parliament (1267 – 1706)
Acts of the Old Scottish Parliament (1424 – 1707)
Acts of the Scottish Parliament (1999 to date)
Acts of Senedd Cyrmu (2020 to date)
Acts of the National Assembly for Wales (2012 to 2020)
Measures of the National Assembly for Wales (2008 – 2011)
Acts of the Irish Parliament (1495 – 1800)
Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921 – 1972)
Measures of the Northern Ireland Assembly (1974)
Orders in Council made under the Northern Ireland Acts (1972 to date) (effectively the primary legislation for Northern Ireland under direct rule, though in the form of Statutory Instruments)
Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly (2000 – 2002 and 2007 to date)
Church of England Measures (1920 to date)
UK Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
Scottish Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
Welsh Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland (2018 to date)
European Regulations (1958 to 31 December 2020)
European Decisions (1953 to 31 December 2020)
European Directives (1959 to 31 December 2020)
Patents, Trade Marks and Designs: Unjustified Threats
Law Commission project behind The Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017 received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017. It came into force on 1 October 2017.
WIPO Lex
Open Access."WIPO Lex provides free of charge access to legal information on intellectual property from around the world. Use WIPO Lex Database Search to access 49,000 legal documents in our Laws, Treaties and Judgments collections."
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(formerly CLEA: Collection of laws for electronic access)

For guidance finding legislation from other countries, try the Law Bod guide below

Legislation
by Elizabeth Wells Last Updated Oct 11, 2024 2796 views this year

IP case law

Lexis+ UK
For online access from a device outside the University network or via eduroam, please follow https://plus.lexis.com/uk/xhome?federationidp=RXVSX459307
Alternative names:Lexis ; LexisLibrary ; Lexis Library ; Lexis International

Lexis+ includes extensive primary and secondary legal materials from the UK, EU, USA and many other jurisdictions. It is the only online source for the full text of the All England Law Reports and Halsbury’s Laws. International content can be accessed by following the “International” link on the home page. UK legal news and newspapers are also included
Westlaw Edge UK
Alternative name: West Law UK ; Westlaw UK

Westlaw is a large database of UK, US and international legal materials including cases, legislation and journal articles.
Coverage:
•UK statutes, statutory instruments and law reports
•England and Wales law reports
•US federal and state legislation and law reports
•Australian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Canadian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Hong Kong SAR law reports and laws
•European Union legislation and law reports
•UK and US law journals and texts
•Common Law Library and over 200 books published by Sweet & Maxwell (Thomson Reuters)
Because of licencing restrictions this database is not available to "Walk-in" users of the library.

Patents County Court Judgments (EWPCC) 2006 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013
Open access via BAILII In 2013 the PCC was renamed to become the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.
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In the legal system of Courts of England and Wales, the Patents County Court (PCC) in London is an alternative venue to the Patents Court of the High Court for bringing legal cases involving certain matters concerning patents, registered and unregistered designs and, more recently, trade marks, including Community trade marks and designs where the courts of England and Wales are competent, as well as other intellectual property cases such as copyright matters.

Established in 1990 by an order made under Section 287 (1) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the intention was that the PCC should be a forum where simpler cases could be dealt with under a cheaper and more streamlined procedure than the High Court. One difference is that cases at the PCC can be argued by solicitors or patent agents, rather than having to be presented by separate qualified barristers (though a patent agent also has right of audience in the Patents Court in appeals from the Patent Office; a patent agent holding a Litigator Certificate has right of audience in any case before the Patents Court and in the court of appeal in appeals from the Patents Court).

In 2010 the procedures of the PCC were reformed to improve access to justice for smaller and medium sized enterprises seeking to litigate their intellectual property rights and to clarify the distinction between the PCC and the High Court. Formally, the PCC has the status of a county court; however there is no restriction on the complexity of cases it can hear. The new procedural rules introduce a cap on recoverable costs of no more than ?50,000. The level of damages is capped at ?500,000 for the court's "special jurisdiction" of patents and designs. Cases can be transferred from the PCC list to be heard by the High Court at the discretion of the PCC; the High Court also routinely transfers cases from its list to the PCC. As with the High Court, appeals from PCC decisions (if leave to appeal is granted) are heard by the Court of Appeal.
Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) judgments 2013 onwards
Open Access via BAILII,
The Patents County Court (PCC) was renamed as the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) with effect from 1st October 2013.
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The court is also being brought under the wing of the Chancery Division of the High Court of England and Wales. Various transitional provisions and savings are also implemented as a result of the changes announced in the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 7) Rules 2013. The PCC) will continue to carry out its current functions as the IPEC hearing less complex cases related to all intellectual property matters based at the Rolls Building in London. The Patents County Court handles two types of cases, including the so-called "small claims track". The main route for cases in the PCC has a limit on damages of up to £500,000. The court will also only issue costs orders which are proportionate to the matter of the dispute and are subject to a ceiling of no more than £50,000. The small claims track is intended to be for claims with a value of up to £10,000 and where costs orders are also tightly controlled

BAILII
OA source of transcripts (not reports) of the decisions/judgments of courts and tribunals of UK and Irelan
Alternative names: British and Irish Legal Information Institute ; British & Irish Legal Information Institute

Free access to British and Irish judgments. General coverage starts mid 1990s, though earlier key judgments are also included. Bailii also includes a subject arrangement of judgments. The judgments are transcripts and do not include arguments of counsel or headnotes. For a wider selection of Law Reports please see Justis, Lexis or Westlaw.

"The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is the European Union (EU) agency responsible for managing the EU trade marks (EUTMs), the registered Community design (RCDs), the Geographical Indications (GIs) for craft and industrial products and the European and international cooperation in the field of intellectual property (IP), as well as the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights."

Search decisions of the EUIPO and judgments of the General Court, Court of Justice and national courts.
Offiical website maintained by European Union Intellectual Property Office. Using basic search Enter the case number without introducing any letters (e.g. enter 122/01 instead of C-122/01) or enter the nickname in the search field and click on the ‘Search' button. You can refine your search by entering a date range and can also choose your preferred language.
Basic search results
Relevant results are displayed in four tabs
Trade mark decisions
Design decisions
National Court judgments
Preliminary ruling

Law reports in the Bodleian Law Library are also arranged by jurisdiction. UK Law Reports are on the entrance floor (Level 2) and start at CW UK 100 and run in alphabetical order by title. Some of the specialist law report series for this topic are:

Entertainment & media law reports
Call Number: Cw UK 120 E65
ISBN: 0966-193X
Publication Date: (1993- )
European copyright & design reports
Call Number: Euro Comm 100 E92
ISBN: 1467-6656
(1999- )
Fleet street reports
Call Number: Cw UK 120 F50
(1978- )
Intellectual property reports (Australia)
Call Number: Cw Austral 100 I50
ISBN: 0812-2024
(1989-1990, 1999- )
Reports of patent, design, trade mark, and other cases
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this (1977 on) via title link.
Publication Date: (2000- )
Print copy at Cw UK 120 R60 start with v.1/2(1884/1885)