The company was established in 2019 to pursue the recovery of undisclosed commission payments made by CPA Global to IP firms in return for referring their clients’ intellectual property (IP) renewals work to CPA Global (now part of Clarivate plc).

Referred clients, overwhelmingly SMEs, were unaware of these payments and subsequently overpaid for their renewal services. Thousands of IP owners have been victims of an abuse of trust and suffered financially and the firms involved have received £millions each year from this arrangement.

First Claim
In 2021, Commission Recovery Limited issued proceedings against Marks & Clerk LLP (the UK’s largest IP firm) concerning payments made by CPA Global between 14 March 2009 and 1 February 2018 which were settled in October 2024 - Read More

Further Claims
Many other IP law firms still refer IP renewals to CPA Global who have continued to make significant payments in respect of each renewal carried out. IPReg, the regulator of IP firms has done nothing to curb this activity.

Common Law Bribery
Under English Law, making payments to a fiduciary (in this case a law firm) that are not fully disclosed to the ultimate client constitutes common law bribery. The amount paid is recoverable by the client as the law assumes it has been added to the bill, in this case the renewal invoice issued by CPA Global.

Representative Action

Claims on behalf of affected IP owners can be pursued by means of representative action, in the same way that the Marks & Clerk LLP claim was brought. A representative action offers an efficient and cost-effective route to a Court decision and provides the mechanism to support businesses and individuals who would otherwise not have the means to pursue legal action of this nature. Please refer to the Legal Action page for further information.

CPA Global Background

In 1969, partners of a number of UK and Australian firms came together to form Jersey-based CPA Global.

The creation of CPA Global allowed the founder firms to transfer away the risks and costs associated with offering IP renewal services, though not the profits, by referring their clients’ IP rights renewal work to their own offshore business. The business was eventually sold to Private Equity investors and in 2020 was sold on to Clarivate PLC, another Jersey-based corporation. Many of the founder firms, and others, continue to pass their clients’ renewals to CPA Global and get paid to do so.

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