The Anton Piller Case and Its Legacy: In Search of a Balance in Civil Search

The Anton Piller Case and Its Legacy: In Search of a Balance in Civil Search
Alain Strowel and Vicky Hanley

ISBN 978-90-411-3343-4
Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands

The Anton Piller case1 is certainly a leading case in the enforcement of intellectual property (IP) in the UK. It is also, however, a prominent precedent that has special resonance for many IP practitioners and experts outside the UK who associate permission for an ex parte inspection of an alleged infringer’s premises with an Anton Piller order. Although enshrined in English law, Anton Piller thus also belongs to the ‘passive vocabulary’ of many IP lawyers even if in practice they are more aware of the ‘saisie-contrefac¸on’ (France), ‘saisie-description’ (Belgium), the ‘beslag inzake namaak’ (Netherlands and Belgium), the ‘Du¨sseldorf Practice’ and the recent codification as ‘Anspruch auf Vorlage und Besichti-gung’ (Germany), etc.