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13 August 2020PatentsAmy Williams

CIPA: On the road to help members

Throughout 2019, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) worked to protect its members’ interests during what was a time of huge uncertainty. With the UK’s withdrawal date from the EU changing three times within 12 months, the institute’s main priorities were to keep members and a network of international stakeholders up to date, to lobby on behalf of members on a number of issues and to ensure that the patent profession was at the forefront of the minds of IP decision-makers in the UK and beyond.

Over the course of the year, CIPA continued to promote the UK IP profession in key markets around the world. The president and the institute’s officers travelled to the Far East and the US to explain the value they add to international IP strategy, transactions and litigation, while also promoting the UK as an IP hub and updating businesses and organisations on important UK IP developments.

Influencing at the highest levels

A crucial part of CIPA’s work in promoting the interests of its members and the UK IP system is maintaining a good rapport with other colleagues within the IP sector, including parliamentarians, civil servants, fellow institutes and other stakeholders.

To ensure this, we attended regular meetings with the UK IP Office (UKIPO) and CIPA’s delegation met with US Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO) director Andrei Iancu, European Patent Office (EPO) president António Campinos, as well as liaising with senior parliamentarians including former IP Minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe and Baroness Hayter, shadow deputy leader of the House of Lords.

"CIPA arranged a series of roadshows in the US in April promoting the UK profession and the same post-Brexit ‘business as usual’ message."

We also met with the Federation of Small Businesses to assist with IP advice to its members and forged new contacts with the Institute of Directors.

In February, the institute’s delegation visited Tokyo and Osaka to reassure the Japanese patent attorney profession that Brexit would not affect European patent work. Two new Japanese language promotional videos were shown as introductions to seminars to reinforce this message.

Preparations for Brexit

CIPA arranged a series of roadshows in the US in April promoting the UK profession and the same post-Brexit “business as usual” message. Our delegation, headed by (then) CIPA president Julia Florence and past president Tony Rollins, hosted all-day seminars in Washington, Boston and Palo Alto.

Discussions included the effect of Brexit on patents; trademarks and designs; comparisons between the US and UK IP litigation systems; insights into filing at the EPO; the patentability of artificial intelligence in Europe and modernisation programmes at the UKIPO and USPTO.

Patent Seekers was the event’s lead sponsor and individual sponsors were Sughrue Mion in Washington, Finnegan in Boston, and Bird & Bird in Palo Alto. The event was also supported by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). Feedback on the event was very positive with delegates keen for the roadshows to become annual events.

Back in London, CIPA received a grant from the government’s Brexit Readiness Fund. With this, chief executive Lee Davies chaired a live Q&A for our members titled ‘IP in a Post Brexit World’, with Florence and CIPA council members Alicia Instone and Matt Dixon.

The panel discussed the impact that Brexit would have on various aspects of IP, from the creation of equivalent UK rights and European trademarks, to the continuing work of UK-based chartered patent attorneys in Europe. The event was broadcast on YouTube in front of a live audience at CIPA HQ and was watched online by a large audience in the UK, the US, Canada and across Europe.

To support the live event, we created an animation highlighting the main points for IP practitioners to consider in order to ensure their clients experience the least amount of disruption possible.

To further prepare our members, we issued written guidance, prepared by Instone and Florence, setting out the key practice points for them to consider in the event of a ‘no-deal’ scenario.

IP Pro Bono and IP Clinics

The IP Pro Bono initiative is a partnership between the institute (which manages the scheme), the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA), the Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Association (IPLA), the IP Bar Association and The Law Society.

The service offers free advice to those involved in IP litigation who cannot afford to pay. In 2019 alone, CIPA had 14 assisting member firms, 20 individual case officers and a total of 104 cases taken on.

As well as the IP Pro Bono scheme, CIPA held regular IP Clinics at a number of sites across the UK. The clinics provide free basic advice to innovators who are at the beginning of developing an idea and are not represented. The clinics are hosted by a Registered Patent Attorney who is a Fellow of the Institute.

In the last 12 months, 12 clinicians held 98 sessions with a total of 49 hours of advice given.

Supporting paralegals

With the introduction of the IP Paralegals membership category at the end of 2018, 122 IP paralegals were elected to membership by application in 2019. After qualifying from the Introductory Patent Administrators Course, 86 IP paralegals were automatically elected into membership.

The annual IP Paralegals Conference attracted an audience of 183 and was followed by an anniversary dinner celebrating 20 years of the IP paralegal course. Both events received very good feedback from guests.

CIPA Congress

Our flagship event, CIPA Congress, was held on September 19, 2019, at the Queen Elizabeth ll Centre in Westminster. The conference provided high-quality continuing professional development to more than 200 attendees and focused on the issues that professionals face in their daily life working in the IP industry.

"As well as the IP Pro Bono scheme, CIPA held regular IP Clinics at a number of sites across the UK."

The event was met with widespread praise with visitors applauding the diverse range of subjects and the expertise of the speakers.

Immediately following the event was the CIPA Annual Dinner, sponsored by Patent Seekers and Thomson Reuters.

Membership engagement

CIPA is the UK’s largest IP membership organisation with more than 4,300 members. Membership has grown 5% year on year for the last five years, with 2019 student membership increasing by 26% and the new IP Paralegal membership category bringing in almost 400 new members.

The average retention for the association sector is 75%, with CIPA holding a membership renewal rate of 97% in 2019.

Events at CIPA included seminars, webinars, networking events, CIPA Congress and the IP Paralegals Conference, with a total of 6,200 attendees across all events over the year.

It has been a busy but successful 12 months at CIPA and we look forward to being at the forefront of the IP sector to support members in 2020. The institute will continue to promote and further advance the UK IP profession, ensuring we provide our members with the best possible advice and information.

Amy Williams is the communications officer at the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys. She can be contacted at: amy@cipa.org.uk

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