Cases - Re Nossen's Letter Patent

Record details

Name

Re Nossen's Letter Patent

Date

(1969)

Citation

1 WLR 638

Keywords

Construction claim - loss and expense claim - expert evidence - expert evidence from party's employees - direct costs - recoverability

Summary

Costs were incurred on research and experimentation in defending an application for patent infringement, with part of the work being carried out by the defendant's own experts on the defendant's own premises. Lloyd-Jacob J held that if expert assistance was required in the case of litigation by a corporation, it may well be that the corporation's own employees are the most suitable experts to employ and that the direct costs should be recoverable. Although The London Scottish Benefit Society v Chorley was not expressly mentioned, the decision is clearly consistent with Re Nossen's Letter Patent.