ABSTRACT
The courts have often been faced with fundamental problems in assessing the quantum of damages in cases involving intellectual property rights. Like most intellectual property rights, the provisions for damages are largely the creation of statute. Since intangible property rights can be hard to define and involve creations which may be individually unique and susceptible to the uncertainties of the market forces, the courts have not sought to define exact formulations. English law has never been wholly comfortable with purely economic torts and many cases turn on their facts, a situation that is hardly conducive to the development of anything more than broad principles. Often, the damage alleged by a claimant may be incapable of specific proof.
