Anton Piller Order

A court order granted in the U.K., Ireland, and other jurisdictions where English precedents are followed. The order usually permits an agent of the plaintiff to enter the defendant’s and related parties’ premises to search for and preserve evidence. Anton Piller orders are now known under the English Civil Procedure Rules and Practice Directions as Civil Search Orders. They are difficult to obtain and usually require a strong prima facie showing of the quality of the plaintiff’s case, the necessity of the order and the likelihood of obtaining evidence that might otherwise be lost or infringing goods that might be sold. They can be applied for on an ex parte basis using in England an ‘Application Without Notice’. The origin of the term is the case in which the first modern English order was issued, Anton Piller KG v. Manufacturing Processes Ltd., [1976] 1 All E.R. 779 (Court of Appeal).

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