Access to justice in the small claims track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC): an empirical enquiry into use by creative SMEs

Abstract

In October 2012, a small claims track was introduced in the Patents County Court, as a forum for low-value copyright, trade mark, unregistered design and passing off claims. This thesis presents the results of a socio-legal empirical investigation into the first three years of claims in this court, renamed the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court in October 2013. The investigation takes the stated policy goal of the introduction of the IP Small Claims Track, which was to improve access to justice for SMEs, and explores whether this was in fact achieved for creative SMEs, using a four-part framework. Access to justice is explored through who uses the court during this period, the procedural and substantive justice these litigants experienced and the access to justice implications for wider society from the data. This thesis demonstrates one particular creative group has enthusiastically embraced the IPEC Small Claims Track, namely freelance photographers, but that uptake by other creative businesses has been low. Further difficulties with court procedure and timescale of cases indicate that litigants may struggle to access procedural justice. With only half of claims actively defended, and defence important in how the case progresses, there also appears to be issues with the substantive justice the court can be seen to deliver. This thesis therefore concludes that any improvement in access to justice for creative SMEs is partial only