New "Unjustified Threats" Legislation

The Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017

The new Act on "unjustified threats" came into force in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2017 following a long vetting process and much public commentary by European practitioners. The concept of a remedy for "unjustified threats" in intellectual property matters in the U.K. goes back many years and well prior to the current legislation and its predecessor embodied in Section 21 of the Trademarks Act of 1994. The prior legislation was deemed inconsistent and confusing as to exactly what constituted an "unjustified threat" communication. Basically, the legislation provides a remedy to a party receiving the threat of an infringement proceeding based on a registered trademark claim where the threat is unjustified, and provides remedies to the threatened party in the form of a declaration of non-infringement, an injunction against further threats, and an award of damages. The basic purpose of the legislation is