The IBA’s Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Committee has undertaken a major survey measuring the existence and utilisation of specialised intellectual property (IP) courts and judges across North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

The purpose of this ongoing survey has been to provoke discussion and analysis of arguments both advocating and criticising specialised IP courts. It is, of course, difficult to generalise across a wide range of jurisdictions, given the differences in factors such as IP caseloads, local custom and practice, and budgetary constraints. However, preliminary survey results indicate a world-wide trend towards creating specialised tribunals, either in or outside the court system.

The data is categorised by jurisdictions that:

(1)   have developed specialised courts that hear only IP cases;
(2)   have appellate courts that have exclusive jurisdiction to hear IP cases but also hear other types of appeals;
(3)   have courts of general jurisdiction with specialised divisions for IP matters or specialist judges with IP background and expertise in IP cases;
(4)   have commercial divisions at the lower and high court levels that hear IP cases in addition to other business disputes;
(5)   have IP tribunals that hear IP cases; or
(6)   are currently contemplating the establishment of specialised IP courts from a pre-grant stage or thereafter.

The International Bar Association’s Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Committee gratefully acknowledges the contribution that intellectual property agencies, law firms and individuals have made towards the development of this survey. We will be holding an initial workshop at the IBA Annual Conference in Auckland and then a full session next year in Prague. The draft report is available here. We welcome your comments and feedback.

Those interested in participating in the survey may contact Clive Elliott at elliott@shortlandchambers.co.nz or Valentina Zoghbi at Valentina.Zoghbi@int-bar.org.