02/11/09
Award of costs in proceedings before the comptroller: a case study
The award of costs in proceedings before the comptroller (the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO)) is guided by a standard published scale . The scale costs are not intended to compensate parties for the expense to which they may have been put, but merely represent a contribution to that expense.
The rationale behind this is that the UKIPO is intended to provide a relatively low-cost forum for litigants into which is built a degree of predictability as to the costs which a party may have to bear.
In exceptional circumstances the UKIPO may award costs above the standard scale. In general, though, such awards are rare.
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