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Every case in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) will differ for many reasons, including subject matter, complexity, and value. For that reason, it is always difficult to exactly predict the fees that a party will incur in the IPEC for each key stage. Nevertheless, some helpful guidance in estimating the fees payable can be found in Part 46 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR).

Under the Part46 Practice Direction, the IPEC is subject to strict caps on the costs which the winning party can recover for each key stage, as well as the total amount it can recover. According to Part 44.1 CPR, ‘costs’ include fees (i.e. solicitor fees), charges, disbursements, expenses or remuneration, unless expressly stated otherwise. These costs caps can assist both Claimant and Defendant in determining their budgets for each stage of the proceedings, in the knowledge that if their costs exceed that amount, that it is unlikely to be recoverable from the other side. In an ideal scenario, their representatives will keep within the costs caps, although this is not always possible depending on the complexity of the case.

Section VII of the Practice Direction sets out the maximum amount of costs which the court will award for each stage of a claim, as well as the overall total amount of costs recoverable in the IPEC both up to determination of liability and an inquiry as to damages or account of profits.

The Civil Procedure Rule Committee confirmed in October 2022 that the IPEC costs caps will increase. The salient points to note are that the maximum total costs awarded to a successful party in an IPEC multi-track claim are:

• £60,000 on the final determination of a claim in relation to liability (previously £50,000); and
• £30,000 in relation to a quantum trial (after the liability trial) on an inquiry as to damages or account of profit (previously £25,000).

Practice Direction 46 Table A (liability) and Table (B) summarises the scale costs in the IPEC proceedings in more detail. The link to Table A and Table B can be found here.

Up to determination of liability

Inquiry as to damages or account of profits

The costs listed in the table above do not include the official court fees payable at the IPEC, which are recoverable separately, and may include:

1. Filing the Claim Form.

The official Court fee varies depending on the amount of damages sought, if any, by the Claimant:

a) £569 for non monetary claims; plus
b) £455 for claims up to £10,000;
c) 5% of the claim up to £200,000;
d) £10,000 for claims over £200,000

2. Application notice

Any application notice, including an application for the Case Management Conference, will incur a fee of £255.

3. Hearing Fee

Claims in the IPEC (except small claims) are conducted under the multi-track which is subject to a hearing fee of £1,090.

The court fees payable in the IPEC are not set out in the CPR but listed separately in form EX50 Fees in the Civil and Family Court, accessible here.

IPEC Small Claims

The costs that a winning party can recover in the small claims track of the IPEC follow the normal rules on small claims costs recovery. Under Part 27 CPR (The Small Claims Track), accessible here, a court may not order a party to pay a sum to another party in respect of that other party’s costs, fees and expenses, including those relating to an appeal, subject to certain exemptions set out at Part 27.14 CPR, which include, for example:

1 Court fees:

a) £569 for non monetary claims; plus
b) £35 for claims up to £300;
c) £50 for claims between £300.01 and £500;
d) £70 for claims between £500.01 and £1,000;
e) £80 for claims between £1,000.01 and £1,500;
f) £115 for claims between £1,500.01 and £3,000;
g) £205 for claims between £3,000.01 and £5,000;
h) £455 for claims between £5,000.01 and £10,000;

2. Hearing fee:

a) £25 for claims up to £300;
b) £55 for claims between £300.01 and £500;
c) £80 for claims between £500.01 and £1,000;
d) £115 for claims between £1,000.01 and £1,500;
e) £170 for claims between £1,500.01 and £3,000;
f) £335 for claims over £3,000;

The above court and hearing fees can be found here.

3. Expenses which a party or witness has reasonably incurred travelling to or from a hearing or staying away from home for the purpose of attending the hearing (CPR 27.14 (2)(d));
4. Loss of earnings or loss of leave evidenced by a party or witness caused by attending a court hearing, limited to £95 per day for each person (CPR 27.14 (2)(e), PD 27 para 7.3);
5. In proceedings which include a claim for an injunction, a sum for legal advice and assistance relating to that claim, not exceeding £260 (CPR 27.14, PD 27 para 7.2);
6. For experts’ fees, a sum not exceeding £750 for each expert (CPR 27.14 (2)(f), PD para 7.3)
7. Such further costs as the court may decide at the conclusion of the hearing should be paid by a party who has behaved unreasonably (CPR 27.14 (3)).