Azzurri Communications Ltd (Claimant) International Telecommunications Equipment Ltd T/A SOS Communications (Defendant) International Telecommunications Equipment Ltd T/A SOS Communications (Part 20 Claimant) Fonesys Communications Inc. (a company incorporated under the laws of New York, USA) (Part 20 Defendant)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Judge Birss |
| Judgment Date | 16 April 2013 |
| Neutral Citation | [2013] EWPCC 22 |
| Date | 16 April 2013 |
| Court | Patents County Court |
| Docket Number | Case No: CC12P1739 |
[2013] EWPCC 22
IN THE PATENTS COUNTY COURT
Rolls Building
7 Rolls Buildings
Fetter Lane
London EC4A 1NL
His Honour Judge Birss QC
Case No: CC12P1739
Geoffrey Pritchard (instructed by Shakespeares) for the Claimant
Douglas Campbell (instructed by Healys) for the Defendant
The Part 20 Defendant did not appear and was not represented
Hearing dates: 28th March 2013
Approved Judgment
I direct that pursuant to CPR PD 39A para 6.1 no official shorthand note shall be taken of this Judgment and that copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
This judgment deals with a point on costs which arose following my main judgment in this case which was handed down on 28 th March ( [2013] EWPCC 17). The case is described in that judgment. The representation before me is the same. The point relates to the application of the cost caps in the costs regime in the Patents County Court.
This action began in the High Court and was transferred to the PCC. A case management conference was held following transfer. At the CMC directions were given for the matter to be tried. The action is a contract claim but raises points of trade mark law. The only relief sought is damages. The trial was to deal with all issues, in other words with the questions of whether the defendant SOS had breached the relevant contract and with the assessment of damages. Following the judgment I decided to award the claimant 80% of its costs. The costs will be summarily assessed. The claimant's Statement of Costs dealt with costs incurred in the High Court and separately with costs in the PCC. As is now the norm in the PCC, the statement dealing with costs in the PCC broke those costs down into the stages which are set out in the Tables provided for in Section 25C of the Costs Practice Direction ( CPR Part 45). This section, along with Section VII of CPR Part 45, sets out the special costs regime applicable in the PCC. CPR r45.42(3) provides that the maximum amount of scale costs that the court will award for each stage of the claim is set out in the Costs Practice Direction.
Rule 45.42(1) provides that subject to an irrelevant exception the court will not order a party to pay total costs of more than (a) £50,000 on the final determination of a claim in relation to liability and (b) £25,000 on an inquiry as to damages or account of profits. In a...
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