By Sandip Patel, Managing Partner, Aliant London. IMPORTANT ENGLISH JUDGEMENT ON IP RIGHTS IN XML FORMATS
(Software Solutions Ltd and others v 365 Health and Wellbeing Ltd and another [2021] EWHC 237 (IPEC))
This decision is important for lawyers advising on software because:
—it demonstrates that though XML schemas may attract literary copyright, they will fall outside the definition of ‘database’ in the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (the Database Regulations) unless they can be shown to be a ‘collection of independent data’.
— how courts will assess a claim for additional damages for copyright infringement under section 97(2) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and under Regulation 3 of the Intellectual Property (Enforcement, etc) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1028).
—drafting an IP assignment from which the assignor wishes to carve out retained rights must be precise or can be fatal.
Link to transcript:-
https://lnkd.in/dNfFFqg