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Henry Carr QC

Henry Carr practises in all fields of Intellectual Property, with a particular concentration on patent, trade mark, design and computer litigation.   Since taking silk in 1998 he has led numerous trials in the High Court and regularly presented cases in the Court of Appeal. Many of his cases have been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union, where he has appeared on many occasions.  He is generally regarded as a ‘star’ QC.

In 2007 Henry was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge of the Chancery Division.  In 2010 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Copyright Tribunal.  In November 2011 he was elected Chairman of the IP Bar Association, a position which he took up in January 2012.

Recent Work

Public Relations Consultants Association Ltd v The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd & Ors [2013] UKSC 18

Public Relations Consultants Association Ltd v The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd & Ors [2013] UKSC 18

Henry has been involved in this long running dispute concerning end user licenses in relation to internet articles collated by the Newspaper Licensing Agency. Most recently he appeared in behalf of NLA at the appeal before the Supreme Court. The court was asked to consider the scope of the temporary copying exception to copyright infringement introduced by Article 5.1 of Directive 2001/29/EC. The question for the court was whether the copies of a webpage made on a person’s hard-drive and screen during browsing the internet fell within the exception to infringement.

The Court held that such use would not amount to copyright infringement. The court considered that this was an important issue not only to UK internet users and so made a reference to the European Court of Justice to ensure a uniform application of the law throughout the EU.

 [2013] UKSC 18

Apple v Samsung [2012] EWCA Civ 1339

Apple v Samsung [2012] EWCA Civ 1339

Dispute concerning the registered design of the tablet computer.  Henry Carr appeared for Samsung in the Patents Court and Court of Appeal and successfully resisted a jurisdictional challenge.  He also represented Samsung at the trial where a declaration of non-infringement was granted.

Apple v Samsung [2012] EWCA Civ 1339

Following this Appeal, there was a further dispute regarding the wording on Apple’s website and so another hearing in the Court of Appeal followed. The decision from this can be found here Apple v Samsung [2012] EWCA Civ 1430.

Football Dataco Ltd v Sportradar [2012] EWHC 1185 (Ch)

Football Dataco Ltd v Sportradar [2012] EWHC 1185 (Ch)

Action concerning sui generis database right relating to sports data. Henry Carr appeared in the Court of Appeal for Sportradar, where FDCs claim of copyright infringement was dismissed.  A jurisdictional question concerning the locality of infringement by making available to the public referred to the CJEU, where he also appeared.  He then successfully defended Sportradar at a trial in relation to joint liability with its customers.

Football Dataco Ltd v Sportradar [2012] EWHC 1185 (Ch)

Notable Cases

SAS Institute Inc v World Programming Ltd (C-406/10) [2010] EWHC 3012 (Ch)

SAS Institute Inc v World Programming Ltd (C-406/10) [2010] EWHC 3012 (Ch)

Software copyright infringement.  After a major trial in the UK, issues fundamental to the software industry were referred to the CJEU and a further hearing in the UK is expected shortly

SAS Institute Inc v World Programming Ltd [2010] EWHC 3012 (Ch)

SAS Institute Inc v World Programming Ltd (C-406/10)

Dyson v Vax [2011] EWCA Civ 1206

Dyson v Vax [2011] EWCA Civ 1206

At both First Instance (Patents Court) and Court of Appeal Henry was instructed by Dyson concerning alleged infringement by the Mach Zen Vacuum cleaner of Dyson’s Community Registered Design.

Dyson v Vax [2011] EWCA Civ 1206

L’Oreal v Bellure [2010] EWCA Civ 535

L’Oreal v Bellure [2010] EWCA Civ 535

Throughout this long-running Trade Mark dispute, Henry was instructed by L’Oreal regarding sections 10(1) and (3) of the Trade Marks Act. High Court, CJEU, Court of Appeal.   This was a ground breaking case.

L’Oreal v Bellure [2010] EWCA Civ 535

L’Oreal & others v EBay International (C-324/09) [2009] EWHC 1094 (Ch)

L’Oreal & others v EBay International (C-324/09) [2009] EWHC 1094 (Ch)

Henry was instructed by L’Oreal in the dispute concerning trade marks, brand names and selling of good on the auction site Ebay. He attended the First instance trial and the Court of Justice of European Union.

L’Oreal & others v EBay International (C-324/09)

L’Oreal & others v EBay International  [2009] EWHC 1094 (Ch)

What the directories say

"a smooth, first-class performer who makes it look effortless."
Chambers and Partners 2013

"An excellent advocate who easily gets to grips with complicated issues"
Chambers and Partners 2013

“a real understanding of what it takes to win’"
Legal 500 2012

"Both an agile lawyer and a man with great technical knowledge"
Chambers and Partners 2012