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United Kingdom

Res judicata and abuse of process block repeat invalidity challenges to RCD and UK re-registered design post-Brexit: Praesidiad v Zaun (Patents Court, England and Wales)

Published on: 19 July 2024

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert
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Article summary

Res Judicata provides post‑Brexit shelter for IP rights (Praesidiad & Guardiar v Zaun) Praesidiad Holding BVBA (formerly Betafence Holding BVBA) and another company v Zaun Ltd [2024] EWHC 1549 (Pat)

What are the practical implications of this case?

As the court observed at [62] of the judgment, an inferred disapplication of the statutory form of res judicata in Article 86(5) of Regulation (EC) 6/2002 is far from enough to infer that parliament intended to set aside the long‑standing principles of res judicata and abuse of process. In essence, the court would not permit a re‑run of issues already taken to a final determination at the EUIPO. Here, the dispute related to the validity of an RCD and its UK cloned right. Nevertheless, the same analysis may equally catch other rights duplicated onto UK registers following Brexit, for example EU trade marks mirrored on the UK register. The upshot is clear: parties should exercise caution before contesting the validity of UK cloned rights where they have already challenged the EU counterpart to a final determination, particularly where all avenues of appeal have been exhausted...

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