Nicole Bollard and Mark Wilden obtain strike-out of IPEC copyright claim by clothing designer

8th April 2024

3PB’s intellectual property barristers Nicole Bollard and Mark Wilden (pictured here) acted for the defendants, Jack Hill Culture Company and its director Shan Lu, in a claim for copyright infringement brought by clothing designer Ivana Basilotta.

Ms Basilotta had previously been unsuccessful at trial in a claim for sums allegedly owed as part of a contractual arrangement between her and the Defendants. Ms Basilotta brought a second claim in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) for alleged infringement of copyright in several hundred designs claimed to be worth approximately £430,000. Her claim was that the designs had been stored by the company in a medium by electronic means without her permission in breach of sections 16(1)(a) and 17(1)-(3) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Nicole Bollard acted for the Defendants at a case management conference before HHJ Hacon, who ordered that Ms Basilotta had failed to adequately particularise her claim and gave her a “final opportunity” to set out the nature of her claim with sufficient clarity. Mark Wilden acted for the Defendants in this resumed case management conference before Douglas Campbell KC, who struck out the claim as insufficiently particularised and “not worth the candle”, disclosing at best a technical infringement which could not support the relief claimed.

Nicole Bollard and Mark Wilden are specialist Intellectual Property (IP) barristers.

Nicole is regularly instructed in cases in the High Court, IPEC and the UKIPO. Nicole’s practice covers all areas of IP and she has recently been instructed in claims concerning trade marks, designs, copyright, passing off, patents and breach of confidence. Nicole has also appeared in the Company Names Tribunal.

Mark specialises in IP law across the creative and entertainment industries including fashion design, film and tv, sport and music. He regularly accepts instruction in all areas of IP law, including copyright, trademark and patent infringements and passing off.

For further details or to instruct Nicole or Mark, please email their clerk David Fielder on [email protected] or call him on 020 7583 8055.