Hasbro Consumer Products Licensing Limited & Anor v Công Ty Tnhh Ðàu Tu Công Nghe Và Dich Vu Sconnect Viet Nam & Ors

Facts

The claimants, Hasbro Consumer Products Licensing Limited and Astley Baker Davies Limited, brought copyright infringement proceedings in the Intellectual Property List concerning the "Wolfoo" videos against Sconnect Co. Ltd, a Vietnamese company, Sconnect Media LLC, a Delaware corporation, and Mr Manh Hoang Ta. After an unsuccessful jurisdiction challenge determined by Chief ICC Judge Briggs, the claimants issued an application on 20 September 2023 for permission to amend the particulars of claim, and a further application on 17 April 2024 to substitute the current claimants for the original claimants following a corporate reorganisation. A hearing before Deputy Master Bowles on 18 July 2024 was ineffective. At a hearing before Master Brightwell on 3 October 2024 the substitution application was settled by consent, with costs adjourned, while the amendment application was argued for essentially a day, the defendants pursuing numerous objections. The amendment application was itself compromised by a consent order of 6 May 2025 without any ruling, the parties agreeing that its costs be determined at the costs and case management conference. That conference did not proceed as such, and following a direction on 16 March 2026 that outstanding costs be resolved first, the three outstanding costs questions came before Master Brightwell, the defendants, now litigants in person, not appearing but filing written submissions.