The Company Names Adjudicator Rules 2008
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2008/1738 |
| Year | 2008 |
2008 No. 1738
Companies
The Company Names Adjudicator Rules 2008
Made 1st July 2008
Laid before Parliament 3rd July 2008
Coming into force 1st October 2008
The Secretary of State makes the following Rules in exercise of the powers conferred by section 71 of the Companies Act 20061.
Introductory
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Company Names Adjudicator Rules 2008 and come into force on 1st October 2008.
(2) In these Rules—
“the Act” means the Companies Act 2006 and references to a “section” are to a section of the Act;
“the appropriate form” means the form determined by the Chief Adjudicator in relation to a particular matter; and
“the Office” means the office of the company names adjudicator at the Intellectual Property Office, Concept House, Cardiff Road, Newport, South Wales, NP10 8QQ.
(3) In these Rules references to the filing of any application or other document are to be construed as references to its being delivered to the adjudicator at the Office.
Forms and fees
2.—(1) The Chief Adjudicator shall have the power to determine the form and content of any form required to be used by these Rules.
(2) Where a form is required to be used by these Rules that form shall be accompanied by the fee, if any, specified in the Schedule in respect of that matter.
Proceedings before the adjudicator
Procedure for objecting to a company’s registered name
3.—(1) An application under section 69(2) shall—
(a)
(a) be made on the appropriate form;
(b)
(b) include a concise statement of the grounds on which the application is made;
(c)
(c) include an address for service in the United Kingdom; and
(d)
(d) be filed at the Office.
(2) The adjudicator shall send a copy of the appropriate form to the primary respondent.
(3) The adjudicator shall specify a period within which the primary respondent must file its defence.
(4) The primary respondent, before the end of that period, shall file a counter-statement on the appropriate form, otherwise the adjudicator may treat it as not opposing the application and may make an order under section 73(1).
(5) In its counter-statement the primary respondent shall—
(a)
(a) include an address for service in the United Kingdom;
(b)
(b) include a concise statement of the grounds on which it relies;
(c)
(c) state which of the allegations in the statement of grounds of the applicant it admits and which it denies; and
(d)
(d) state which of the allegations it is unable to admit or deny, but which it requires the applicant to prove.
(6) Any member or director of the primary respondent who is joined as a respondent to the application must be joined before the end of a period specified by the adjudicator.
(7) The adjudicator shall send a copy of the appropriate form referred to in paragraph (4) to the applicant.
Evidence rounds
4.—(1) When the period specified under rule 3(3) has expired, the adjudicator shall specify the periods within which evidence may be filed by the parties.
(2) All evidence must be—
(a)
(a) accompanied by the appropriate form, and
(b)
(b) copied to all other parties in the proceedings.
Decision of adjudicator and hearings
5.—(1) Where the applicant files no evidence in support of its application the adjudicator may treat it as having withdrawn its application.
(2) The adjudicator may strike out the application or any defence in whole or in part if it is vexatious, has no reasonable prospect of success or is otherwise misconceived.
(3) Any party may, by filing the appropriate form, request to be heard in person before a decision is made by the adjudicator under the Act or these Rules.
(4) Following a request under rule 5(3) the adjudicator shall decide whether a decision can be made without an oral hearing in circumstances where—
(a)
(a) the primary respondent files no evidence; or
(b)
(b) the applicant files no evidence in reply to the respondent’s evidence; or
(c)
(c) the decision will not terminate the proceedings.
(5) Where the adjudicator decides that a decision can be made without an oral hearing the adjudicator will specify a period for the parties to submit written submissions before making a decision.
(6) Where the adjudicator decides that a hearing is necessary he shall require the parties or their legal representatives to attend a hearing and shall give the parties at least 14 days’ notice of the hearing.
(7) When the adjudicator has made a decision on the application under section 69(2) he shall send to the parties written notice of it, stating the reasons for his decision.
(8) The date on which the decision was sent to the parties shall be taken to be the date of the decision for the purposes of any appeal.
General powers of adjudicator in relation to proceedings before him
6.—(1) At any stage of proceedings before him, the adjudicator may direct that the parties to the proceedings attend a case management conference or pre-hearing review.
(2) The adjudicator may give such directions as to the management of the proceedings as he thinks fit, and in particular he may—
(a)
(a) direct a document to be filed or to be copied to a party to proceedings within a specified period;
(b)
(b) allow for the electronic filing and sending of documents;
(c)
(c) direct how documents filed or sent electronically are to be authenticated;
(d)
(d) direct that a document shall not be available for public inspection;
(e)
(e) require a translation of any document;
(f)
(f) direct that a witness be cross-examined;
(g)
(g) consolidate proceedings;
(h)
(h) direct that proceedings are to be heard by more than one adjudicator;
(i)
(i) direct that part of any proceedings be dealt with as separate proceedings; or
(j)
(j) suspend or stay proceedings.
(3) The adjudicator may control the evidence by giving directions as to—
(a)
(a) the issues on which he requires evidence;
(b)
(b) the nature of the evidence which he requires to decide those issues; and
(c)
(c) the way in which the evidence is to be placed before him,
and the adjudicator may use his power under this paragraph to exclude evidence which would otherwise be admissible.
Requests for extensions of time
7.—(1) The adjudicator may extend (or further extend) any period which has been specified under any provision of these Rules even if the period has expired.
(2) Any party can request an extension of any time period specified under any provision of these Rules.
(3) Any request for a retrospective extension must be filed before the end of the period of 2 months beginning with...
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