Legal Week: Kitchen joins High Court to replace Laddie: “In 2002, an appeal was unsuccessfully brought against a Laddie judgment accusing the judge of having an "appearance of bias".: 22 Sept 2005  

IP lawyers have welcomed the appointment of David Kitchin QC of 8 New Square as the successor to Mr Justice Laddie in the UK IP court.

The appointment, announced last week (14 September), sees Kitchin replace the IP court’s most senior High Court judge, Hugh Laddie, who has left the bench after 10 years to join IP consultancy Willoughby & Partners.

Fifty-year-old Kitchin was called to the Bar in 1971 and took Silk in 1994.

He was appointed a recorder in the Patent County Court earlier this year and is approved to sit as a deputy High Court judge and to hear trademark appeals.

The appointment to the High Court’s Chancery Division will be closely watched by the IP community, which has been highly critical of patent judges in recent years, claiming they have had a bias against patent holders.

In 2002, an appeal was unsuccessfully brought against a Laddie judgment accusing the judge of having an "appearance of bias".

Wragge & Co head of IP Gordon Harris was upbeat about Kitchin’s appointment saying: "He is the greatest brain at the IP Bar. I would expect he will end up in the House of Lords."

Bird & Bird IP partner Trevor Cook added: "He is certainly one of the most respected [practitioners] at the Bar and the main concern now will be finding someone else who is able to step into his shoes."

Other High Court judges appointed in the same round were Caroline Swift QC of Byrom Street Chambers, Brian Langstaff QC of Cloisters, David Lloyd Jones QC of Brick Court and Vivian Ramsey QC of Keating Chambers.

Author: Paul Hodkinson

Source: Legal Week

Start Date: 22/09/2005

End Date: 29/09/2005 

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