Legal costs incurred in connection with a domain name complaint to WIPO on behalf of Sir Peter Scott

Dr H Fredrics made this Freedom of Information request to Kingston University

The request was successful.

From: Dr H Fredrics

30 May 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

In accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information
Act, I respectfully submit my request for a complete and accurate
summary of legal and filing fee costs incurred by and/or paid for
by the University in connection with the University's pursuit of a
domain name complaint to the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO) on behalf of one of its employees, 'Sir Peter
Scott.' This complaint was launched in early March of 2009 and was
decided by WIPO on 1 May 2009.

In fulfilling my request, I would ask that the University provide
the names of all providers of legal services and the precise
amounts paid to them in relation to the above cause of action.

Please send this information by email.

Thank you for your kind assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Dr H Fredrics

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From: Laughlan, Gail A
Kingston University

1 June 2009

Dear Mr Fredrics,

Thank you for your recent request for information relating to Kingston University. Your request was received on 1st June 2009 and is now being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please note that in some circumstances a fee may be payable prior to information being supplied. If a charge is applicable in this case I will contact you to request payment before proceeding further. Details of the University’s charging policy can be found in section 3 of its Freedom of Information Policy, available at the link below:

http://www.kingston.ac.uk/aboutkingstonu...

I will be in touch again in due course and in any event not later than 29th June 2009, this being twenty working days following receipt of your request. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me if I can be of any further assistance.

Kind regards

Gail Laughlan

Tel: +44 (0)20 8417 2090 (Ext. 62090)

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From: Laughlan, Gail A
Kingston University

29 June 2009

Dear Mr Fredrics,

Further to my recent email I am writing to confirm that the University does not hold the information requested.

The monthly invoices received from the legal firm, Charles Russell, do not list costs against specific items. As each invoice covers a number of different matters it is not possible to provide the details of the costs requested.

However, the University can confirm that it did pay an agent's fee of £1,268.61 (inc VAT) which is the fee payable to the World Intellectual Property Organisation in respect of the domain name complaint.

This completes the University’s response to your information request. If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision please contact:

Head of Secretariat, Kingston University, River House, 53-57 High Street, Kingston upon Thames, London. KT1 1LQ

In the event that you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless the applicant has exhausted the internal complaints procedure provided by Kingston University. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Kind regards

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From: Dr H Fredrics

29 June 2009

Dear Ms Laughlin,

Thank you for your reply to my FOI request.

In this instance, all services would have been provided by Mr
Michael Cover of Charles Russell, who works in their Intellectual
Property department. On this basis, it should be reasonably easy to
discern which legal costs apply to this particular matter.

Alternatively, it is for the University to take reasonable action
to obtain this information from Charles Russell Solicitors --
clearly, they can readily provide a breakdown of which cases they
were working on with amounts applied to the case in question being
flagged and totaled for the University.

Given the length of time that has already transpired since my
initial request, I would fully and quite reasonably expect this
information to be provided to me as part of an internal review
within seven calendar days, after which time I will have no other
option but to take up the matter with the Information
Commissioner's Office.

Yours sincerely,

Dr H Fredrics

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From: Laughlan, Gail A
Kingston University

29 June 2009

I am out of the office today. Please contact Catherine Winkley
([email address]) if your enquiry is urgent.
This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email
Security System.

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From: Laughlan, Gail A
Kingston University

30 June 2009

Dear Mr Fredrics,

In accordance with our Freedom of Information complaints procedure I have forwarded your message to Chris Ince, Head of Secretariat. He will be in touch in due course.

Regards

Gail Laughlan

Tel: +44 (0)20 8417 2090 (Ext. 62090)

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From: Dr H Fredrics

1 July 2009

Dear Ms Laughlan,

Thank you for your letter of 30 June 2009.

Further to this matter, I would point out that the Solicitors Act
1974 s64(2) requires solicitors to furnish detailed itemized bills
for conduct of contentious matters upon request of the client. On
this basis, there is nothing standing in the way of the University
exercising this right in order to obtain the information required
by my FOI request.

Yours sincerely,

Dr H Fredrics

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From: Laughlan, Gail A
Kingston University

1 July 2009

I am out of the office today. Please contact Ayla Forbes
([email address]) if your enquiry is urgent.

This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email
Security System.

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From: Ince, Chris
Kingston University

2 July 2009

Dear Dr Fredrics,

This is to acknowledge your request for an internal review of your FOI request.

In line with the Information Commissioner's guidance I will attempt to reply as soon as possible and no later than 20 working days from your request dated 29 June 2009. Ms Laughlin has also forwarded me your second e-mail of 1 July 2009.

Regards,
Chris

Dr Chris Ince
Head of Secretariat
Room 303, River House
53 - 57 High Street
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey KT1 1LQ

Tel: 020 8417 3259
Fax: 020 8417 3014
E-mail: [email address]

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From: Dr H Fredrics

2 July 2009

Dear Dr Ince,

Thank you for your letter of 2 July 2009.

As stated in my letter of 29 June 2009, I am prepared to wait seven
calendar days from that date for your reply, as under the
circumstances, there is no reason for further delay in your
response and requisite compliance with the Act.

Yours sincerely,

Dr H Fredrics

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From: Dr H Fredrics

7 July 2009

Dear Dr Ince,

Having not received a further satisfactory reply to my letters of
29 June, 1 July and 2 July 2009 in which I explained why it would
not be reasonable for the University to delay further its due
compliance with my FOI request, I am writing as a courtesy to
inform you that more than seven days have elapsed since I requested
a review of the University's decision to deny my request for
information.

On the basis that the University has had more than sufficient time
to comply with my request for review, I am now prepared to initiate
a complaint with the Information Commissioner in relation to the
University's apparent decision to breach the FOI Act by
unreasonably withholding information that it has or ought to have
at hand.

Yours faithfully,

Dr H Fredrics

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From: Ince, Chris
Kingston University

10 July 2009

Dear Mr Fredrics,

Below is the response from the University following your request for an internal review of your Freedom of Information Request for “Legal costs incurred in connection with a domain name complaint to WIPO on behalf of Sir Peter Scott”.

In the initial response it was stated that the monthly invoices received from the legal firm, Charles Russell, did not list costs against specific items. As each invoice covered a number of different matters it was not possible to provide the details of the costs requested. I have established that this is correct.

However, following further discussions with our HR department it has been possible to establish, via e-mail correspondence with Charles Russell, that the overall figure billed for this matter was £3,115.35, inc VAT.

This completes the internal complaints procedure provided by Kingston University. In the event that you are not content with the outcome of your review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Kind regards

Chris Ince

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