AB InBev v Heineken trial to begin as planned despite pandemic
The English High Court refused Anheuser-Busch InBev's (AB InBev) request for a two-week extension for filing evidence in a patent dispute with Heineken, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
In proceedings conducted over Skype, the court instead granted an extension of just over one week until this Friday, April 17, so that trial can proceed as planned later this month.
The trial, which deals with a patent dispute over so-called bag-in-bottle (BiB) technology, was scheduled to begin on April 29, with expert evidence due last week on April 8 and 9.
But, in light of the ongoing crisis around coronavirus, AB InBev asked to push back the deadline for its expert evidence to April 23, and for the trial to be delayed until May 4.
Heineken objected, arguing that the trial should proceed as planned at the end of April.
Daniel Alexander QC, sitting as a deputy high court judge, said that the full delay requested by AB InBev would be “prejudicial” to Heineken, but instead granted a “modest extension” for the evidence to be filed.
This was “principally to take account of the general disruption and distractions caused to some as a result of the coronavirus crisis and the unavailability of one of the solicitors,” he said.
At the outset, Alexander said that normally AB InBev’s request for a two-week extension to supply evidence, as well as delaying trial, would be “would be hard to justify”, but considered the request due to special circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB InBev argued that its legal team at Bird & Bird had been working remotely and unable to hold face-to-face meetings. As well as the lockdown conditions in place in the UK, one of Bird & Bird’s solicitors working on the case fell ill with symptoms of COVID-19 and was unable to work on the case for several days.
Alexander accepted that “preparing documents and evidence has been made somewhat harder” while solicitors are unable to work in the same room.
He said AB InBev’s case justified only a slight extension, rather than the full two weeks requested “cannot, in my view, justify an extension in the timetable for service of reply evidence for two weeks”.
“Bird & Bird has a large solicitor team working on this case, which may involve as many as four qualified lawyers as well as counsel,” the deputy high court judge pointed out.
AB InBev now has until Friday, April 17 to file its expert evidence, while the trial will begin as planned on April 29.
Alexander also granted an extended time period for the submission of written closing submissions, after evidence is heard from April 29-May 1.
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