No, this is not “yet another application to expedite a patent trial in the UK”. But it is good news for those wanting to list quickly.

Back in 2015, Arnold J issued two practice statements confirming that, where possible, trials should be heard within 12 months of the claim being issued. Since then there have been various developments in pre-CMC practice, not least relating to disclosure, which have on the whole increased the parties obligations pre-CMC. Listing CMCs for a half to a whole day is not uncommon and the judges have acknowledged that they take some time to come on. If the trial date is one of the issues for the CMC, this delay in hearing the CMC has meant that, by the time the trial is ultimately listed, the listing window has moved on. As such, parties have resorted to seeking to agree and list trials before the CMC, although this is not always straightforward, particularly when the few available slots are not agreed between the parties.

A slew of recent listing/expedition hearings has confirmed that listing within the 12 month window is not currently a reality for many patent litigants, especially those with trial estimates longer than a few days. In practice, this has meant keeping a close eye on the Court diary, and seizing upon slots within that window, as they arise.

A recent judgment by Mellor J. in Nokia v Oneplus & others, confirmed what the patent judges indicated to the Patents Court User’s Committee – namely that they are willing to hear short (30 minute) listing applications, with the aim to bring patent trials within 12 months of issue, where possible. They also suggested the following approach to listing:

• If the parties can agree the subject matter and listing estimate for a particular trial, it can be listed in advance of the CMC and potentially even on the papers.
• If there remains a relatively confined dispute over the listing estimate which could be dealt with in a 30 minute hearing, the Court is willing to sit at 9.30am to hear such applications in advance of the CMC.
• If the outstanding disputes on subject matter/listing estimates are more complex, it may need to be determined at the CMC.

The judgment also confirms that we should expect a new Practice Statement on this point shortly – watch this space!