Legal costs incurred in connection with a domain name complaint to WIPO on behalf of Sir Peter Scott
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
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)
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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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
I am out of the office today. Please contact Catherine Winkley
([email address]) if your enquiry is urgent.
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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)
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
I am out of the office today. Please contact Ayla Forbes
([email address]) if your enquiry is urgent.
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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]
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
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
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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