A registered proprietor and an exclusive licensee may bring proceedings for infringement of a design (section 7(1) and section 24F, RDA). An action may be brought for one or more of the following: Damages an injunction preventing further infringement and an order for the delivery up or destruction of the infringing articles. These same remedies were extended to owners of Community designs by the Enforcement Regulations which gave effect to the European Enforcement Directive (2004/48/EC). Under section 24B of the RDA, an innocent infringer of a registered design is exempt from an account of profits, as well as damages. This section replaces section 9 of the RDA which provided for an exemption in relation to damages only. However, as highlighted by the case of J Choo (Jersey) Limited v Towerstone Limited & others [2008] EWHC 346 (Ch), 16 January 2008, an anomaly exists because although an innocent infringer has a defence to a claim for a financial remedy in the case of infringement of a UK registered design, no such defence is available for infringement of a Community design.
Consent orders – what are they?
When a matter is taken to court, parties can, in some instances, make an offer to reach an agreement before the dispute proceeds to trial
