The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) today proposed to streamline large-scale Copyright Tribunal cases and allow smaller claims to be fast-tracked, as it launched a review of the tribunal’s rules.

The IPO said the changes will make the tribunal quicker and cheaper to use, particularly for individuals and small businesses.

The IPO has proposed the following: David Lammy, intellectual property minister, said: ‘The new rules will make the Copyright Tribunal a more efficient forum for resolving licensing disputes. I anticipate that small businesses and individuals in particular will benefit from the proposed changes.’

  • Streamlining of cases for large-scale litigation in order to reduce costs for parties;
  • Introduction of a small applications fast-track system for cases of low financial value, in order to improve accessibility for small business and individuals;
  • Modernisation of the rules, in particular by incorporating case management techniques from the Civil Procedure Rules.

The draft proposals are available on the IPO website www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-policy/consult/consult-live.htm.