Tony Catterall

Role
Tony heads the Intellectual Property team and provides a full range of strategic advice covering intellectual property disputes, contracts and licensing.

Tony delivers astute, commercially driven advice. He is consulted daily on copyright and design right matters and has been involved in a number of high profile cases. He is one of the best-known lawyers to the home furnishings industry and his awareness of the textiles, interior design and wallcoverings markets ensures he is nationally regarded as a leader in the field of designs and copyright.

Tony is renowned for his innovative and single-minded approach to dispute resolution and is known affectionately to his clients as “The Magician” for pulling off what others believe to be lost causes.

Experience
Tony is a Clitheroe RGS old boy and a Cambridge graduate. He spent 10 years as an equity partner with regional heavyweight DWF before founding Taylors. Tony’s resilience and persistence on behalf of his clients is best illustrated by the fact that every one of his reported cases has resulted in an outcome that was wholly or partially successful for his client. Those cases include:

Designers Guild Limited v Russell Williams Textiles Limited (House of Lords)
The principal authority on the meaning of reproduction of “the whole or any substantial part” of a design for the purposes of copyright. Infringement can arise if the essential features of a design are copied, even if expressed in a different form. This case marked a decisive shift in favour of design owners in the home furnishings market.

Clough Mill Limited v Martin (Court of Appeal)
The leading case on retention of title. A yarn contract provided that ownership of yarn remained with the seller until paid for. The Court of Appeal held that the purchaser was permitted to use the yarn for weaving its cloth but the seller obtained ownership of the finished cloth if payment had not been made.

PLG Research Limited v Ardon International Limited (Court of Appeal)
An important case on the construction of patent claims, here concerning geotextiles for use in soil reinforcement. The Court of Appeal held all three patents in suit valid and two of them infringed – a major shift away from the previous strict approach to the construction of patent claims in the English Court.

Bim Kemi v Blackburn Chemicals Limited (Court of Appeal)
A cross-border dispute regarding an exclusive distribution agreement in the paper chemicals industry. The Court of Appeal held in favour of BCL on repudiatory breach by Bim.

Strahan v Wilcock (Court of Appeal)
A shareholder dispute concerning the meaning of quasi partnership in the context of a minority shareholder’s petition for unfair prejudice.

Ashley Wilde Group Limited v Stitchwell (High Court)
A claim for infringement of UK copyright in cushion cover designs against a Turkish weaver, its Turkish distributor and English customer. Leave to sue the Turkish companies in the English Courts was obtained and at trial simultaneous judgments were obtained for injunctions, substantial damages and quantified costs.

Malgar v Leach (High Court)
A claim for infringement of various intellectual property rights in farming equipment.

Blackburn Borough Transport Limited v Blackburn Transport Limited (High Court)
A claim for passing off in the bus industry. Summary judgment obtained and substantial damages awarded.

Clear Springs v Businesslinx (High Court)
A dispute regarding ownership of copyright in specialist software, resolved at a speedy trial only three months after the commencement of the proceedings.

Re Flexible Directional Indicators Patent (Patents Court)
An application relating to a successful invention for a flexible traffic bollard. An objection of obviousness over close prior art was overcome.

Profile
A keen and highly competitive golfer, Tony can often be found on the golf course. He is an ardent Blackburn Rovers supporter and enjoys running to wind down from the pressures of the office.

 

What the Legal 500 say about Tony: "Taylors advises home furnishings and cosmetics industry clients among others. Tony Catterall is the key name."