Agent and Client – Duty of Agent when lending Client’s Money on Security of Patent
A law-agent was employed by a client to obtain a loan on the security of a patent. Another client, after consulting the law-agent, lent pounds 5000. The patent was subsequently found to be invalid, having been anticipated by prior patents. An action was raised at the instance of the lender against the law-agent, for payment of the sum alleged to have been lost through the transaction, on the ground that before the loan was completed the defender had been advised by a patent-agent that a search ought to be made for the purpose of ascertaining the validity of the patent, and that this advice was concealed from the pursuer; that by reason of this concealment, and in ignorance of the advice given to the defender, the pursuer was led to advance his money on a worthless security. Held ( rev. judgment of First Division, diss. Lord Chancellor Halsbury) that the onus of proving that the communication had not been made lay upon the pursuer, and that he had failed to discharge it. Defenders assoilzied.
Judges:
Lord Chancellor (Halsbury), Earl of Selborne, Lord Watson, Lord Herschell, and Lord Macnaghte
Citations:
[1887] UKHL 153, 25 SLR 153
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Agency, Intellectual Property
Updated: 28 June 2022; Ref: scu.636754