NIPC News

Leeds Courthouse: Home of the Business and Property Courts in Leeds (c) 2005 Jane Lambert, all rights reserved Jane Lambert Just under 9 years ago, I announced the launch of the Business and Property Courts in Launch of a Judicial Superhighway?   in NIPC Northwest and  The Leeds Business and Property Court s in NIPC Yorkshire. The work of the courts in the Queen's Bench and Chancery Divisions, which resolved business disputes was coordinated, but they remained part of the Divisions of the High Court that had been established by The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 . Yesterday, the Lady Chief Justice of England announced the establishment of a new Business and Property Division to replace the Chancery Division early in the next legal year in The Lady Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor modernise the High Court through establishment of the Business and Property Division   and a YouTube video entitled  Lady Chief Justice- Business and Property Division   2 J...

Author Muhammad Karns Licence CC BY-SA 4.0   Source Wikimedia Commons Rolls Building, Business and Property Courts Jane Lambert There has been a recent flurry of judicial appointments that will affect intellectual property dispute resolution in both London and the North of England. On 26 June 2025, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of Lord Justice Birss as Chancellor of the High Court with effect from 1 Nov 2025 (see the press release  Appointment of the Chancellor of the High Court: June 2025 ,  25 Jun 2025).  As the press release states, the Chancellor of the High Court is one of the most senior judges in England and Wales.  The Chancellor presides over the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal and sits as a judge of first instance in the Chancery Division.   He will have full responsibility for the Business and Property Courts in London and other centres, including the Patents Court , the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court  and t...

By Aurelien Guichard from London, United Kingdom - Royal Courts of Justice, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curi d=62065074 Jane Lambert We should like to congratulate Mr Justice Birss and Mr Justice Nugee on their elevation to the Court of Appeal (see Courts and Tribunal Judiciary Appointment of Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal   31 July 2020).  Since Lord Justice Arnold's elevation, Mr Justice Birss has been the presiding judge of the Patents Court. We can expect a new appointment to replace him.  I have no inside information but I have a shrewd idea who that is likely to be. If I am right it will come as a surprise to many people. But I'm not saying. Mr Justice Nugee also sits in the Patents Court from time to time.   The last time I mentioned him was in my article on freezing injunctions (see Jane Lambert  Freezing Injunctions - Organic Grape Spirit Ltd v Nueva IQT, SL   29 July 2020 NIPC Law).  T...