Work
Documents
Updated June 2026
The Patents Court hears all cases concerning patents, registered designs and plant varieties other than those heard by the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (which hears shorter, less complex, less valuable intellectual property claims).
Most of the work of the Patents Court consists of claims and counterclaims for infringement and revocation of United Kingdom and European (UK) Patents. Although the Patents Court hears cases involving all fields of technology, the most common technical fields are pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and telecommunications. The most technically complex cases are heard by two judges who have specialised in technically complex intellectual property litigation throughout their careers. They are assisted by a small number of other assigned judges.
Procedure in the Patents Court is governed by CPR Part 63 and Practice Direction 63 (external link) and is described in the June 2026 edition of the Patents Court Guide (PDF).
Procedure rules cited 2
Explicit references found in this document. A reference that names only a Part number without its rulebook is not matched — that citation is ambiguous across the Civil, Family and Criminal rules.
- CPR PD 63Practice Direction 63
cited asPractice Direction 63
…ges. Procedure in the Patents Court is governed by CPR Part 63 and Practice Direction 63 (external link) and is described in the June 2026 edition of the Pat…
- CPR Part 63Intellectual Property Claims
cited asCPR Part 63
…her assigned judges. Procedure in the Patents Court is governed by CPR Part 63 and Practice Direction 63 (external link) and is described in the Jun…