Nice one, Your Majesty -- and well done, Colin!

... and after
Colin Birss before he
took up judging ...
This Kat is thrilled to read the breaking news that, fresh from her other ceremonial and constitutional duties, Her Majesty the Queen has taken the opportunity to appoint Patents County Court star performer Judge Colin Birss QC to the High Court.  Perhaps surprisingly, given his long experience of and commitment to intellectual property law, he is replacing not Sir Christopher Floyd in the Patents Court (where Colin has recently been sitting quite a bit in recent times) but another recently-elevated judge whose experience of intellectual property law scarcely extends beyond creamy yoghurts (here and here) and partially clothed minor celebrities [Merpel says, it's obvious that he should replace Briggs J, since their surnames are not far short of an anagram of each other ...].

Judge Birss QC takes up his new position on 13 May.

This Kat wishes him the best of luck and hopes that the hole in the Patents County Court will be plugged by someone who doesn't mind having a hard act to follow.
Nice one, Your Majesty -- and well done, Colin! Nice one, Your Majesty -- and well done, Colin! Reviewed by Jeremy on Friday, April 19, 2013 Rating: 5

8 comments:

  1. Since it is thought that the PCC is apparently due to be sucked in to the High Court soon anyway, hopefully Judge Birss can continue to look after the 'little people' as he has done so well to date!! or at least keep a close eye on his successor to ensure that his great work in making the PCC a success is continued...

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  2. Any bets on who will replace him?

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  3. The other appointee is Vivien Rose QC, a leading expert in competition law. She is named as the successor to Mr Justice Floyd.

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  4. I think the "successor" bit is just a seniority thing, so don't think that means Vivien Rose is going to the Patents Court and Colin Birss to general Chancery!

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  5. How about Sir Robin Jacob as the new Patents County Court Judge?

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  6. How about an IP solicitor for the Patents County Court, Particularly now that hands on case management is required. Alan Johnson? James Love?

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  7. I had heard that HHJ Birss QC will continue run the PCC or that it will become subsumed as a division of the ChD - no decision has been made as of yet (though sources close suggest that it will be the latter). If the latter will be the case then presumably, whilst there may be a presiding judge and whilst it may be the soon to become The Honourable Mr Justice Birss, other ChD patents judges will sit in the PCC. The problem is that the recent success of the PCC is entirely down to HHJ Birss QC who has stamped his own line on the thing - cheap justice without being bad justice. Difficult one to achieve but he, his recorders and his DJs manage it.

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