Officers & Committees


ITMA Officers

Mrs. G.M. Deas

Gillian Deas,
President
020 7269 8577

Gillian joined D.Young & Co. in 1997.  Previously, she had many years in-house experience with Shell Oil Company and a multi-national tobacco company.  Gillian qualified as a Member of ITMA in 1980, a European Trade Mark Attorney in 1996 and a European Design Attorney in 2003. 

Gillian was elected a Fellow of the Institute in 2002 and became President in 2008.  She is an associate member of the PTMG and is also a member of INTA and ECTA. 

Mrs. M.A. Ramage

Maggie Ramage,
First Vice-President
01483 750701

Maggie is a UK Trade Mark Attorney and a European Trade Mark Attorney.  She is also a member of INTA, ECTA and MARQUES.  Maggie has worked for the Californian-based Raychem Corporation and was seconded to San Francisco in 1987.  She later returned to England, working for the then Beecham Group (now part of GlaxoSmithKline), before moving to Bristish Telecommunications.  Maggie became a partner in Surrey based Alexander Ramage Associates in 1991.

Dr. C.A. Wolfe

Catherine Wolfe,
Second Vice-President
020 7831 7929

Catherine entered the profession in 1995 and qualified in 1997 as a Registered Trade Mark Attorney and European Trade Mark Attorney.  She is now an Associate Director with Page White & Farrer in London and became Second Vice-President of ITMA in 2008. 

Dr. C.A. Wolfe

Chris McLeod,
Treasurer
0870 839 0000

Chris entered the profession in 1990 and is a Registered UK and European Trade Mark Attorney. He is Director of Trade Marks at Hammonds and became Treasurer of ITMA in 2008. He is also a member of INTA and PTMG, a regular contributor to trade mark publications and has made occasional TV and radio appearances discussing intellectual property.

The ITMA Council

The business of the Institute is managed by the ITMA Council, whose members are elected for a two-year term at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Council members may seek re-election at the AGM at the end of the two years if they wish. The President, the two Vice Presidents and the Treasurer are elected from within members of the Council and the Council itself is responsible for keeping true accounts, electing new members to the Institute and making decisions on disciplinary matters. The ITMA Council meets regularly to receive reports from committees and to discuss the fulfilling of its responsibilities.

ITMA Committees

Book Committee
The objects of the Book Committee are to review and assist with the publication of various works on behalf of ITMA.  Traditionally this has centred upon the publication of the UK Trade Mark Handbook, including commissioning contributors for this work.  The Committee also discusses ideas for publications which can be produced by the Institute in the future. 

Chairman: Mark Hiddleston, m.hiddleston@elkfife.co.uk

Continuing Professional Development
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is both an opportunity for ITMA members to formalise training, and a reassurance to the public that members have the highest professional standards in terms of keeping up to date with legal developments after qualification. The role of the CPD Committee is to provide advice to members on the availability of CPD points for activities which do not fall clearly within ITMA’s guidelines and follow up those cases in which members have failed to provide evidence of compliance with CPD requirements.

Chairman: David Butler, david.c.butler@gsk.com

Designs
In essence, the Designs Committee exists to monitor and laws and practice surrounding the issue of designs and to increase awareness of these issues. The Committee monitors developments in the law and is also involved in consultation processes with the UK-IPO, OHIM and WIPO on proposed changes to law and practice. It aims to increase awareness of designs-related issues by means of printed material and seminars, available to ITMA members, the design community and members of the general public alike.

Chair: Imogen Wiseman, imogen.wiseman@fjcleveland.co.uk

Education & Training
The aim of the Education & Training Committee is to help student and affiliate members of ITMA to sit the exams.  The Committee organises an annual programme of courses and seminars covering all the foundation and advanced level exam papers.  One-to-One Consultations with an examiner are also available to those who require individual tuition at the advanced stage of their education.

Chairman: Rob Furneaux, rfurneaux@iprights.com

Formalities
ITMA has an ongoing commitment to effective education and training and this includes the education and training of administrative staff – traditionally known as ‘formalities’ staff. The Formalities Committee is responsible for organising and delivering the Trade Mark Administrators' course for formalities staff. The course consists of a series of lectures to a structured curriculum followed by an examination. Successful students receive a certificate at the end of the course.

Chairman: Tom Farrand, info@ip21.co.uk

General Purposes and Finance
GP&F is the work-horse committee of the Institute, in that it makes important policy recommendations upon which Council then decide. GP&F considers reports from other committees which may involve the Institute introducing new policies or amending existing policies especially where there are financial implications. As the name suggests, the Treasurer plays an important role and presents accounts and budgets to GP&F for approval before submitting them to Council for final approval. GP&F is responsible for the management of the Institute staff and the office.

Chair: Alice Mastrovito, alice@mastrovito.com

Laws and Practices
L&P considers implications for the profession of practice and procedure proposals. This involves commenting on proposals and lobbying the regulatory authorities. In the case of the UK this means liaising closely with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) and other government departments involved in IP protection and enforcement. L&P work with the Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM) on European matters. L&P also work with WIPO on international registration practices and with other organisations such as those involved with domain name registers.

Chairman: Stephen James, sjames@jenkins.eu

Membership
The membership committee is responsible for recommending prospective new members to Council for election. This involves checking that applicants meet the qualifying criteria for membership. The committee advises the ITMA Council on all membership matters, including any changes to the categorisation of members and is also responsible for encouraging new members and promoting membership of the Institute.

Chairman: Clare Jackman, clare.jackman@bondpearce.com

Public Relations
The aims of the PR Committee are to increase awareness of trade marks and to promote the profession of trade mark attorneys.  Specifically, the objectives are to increase awareness of the importance of trade marks and designs and the expertise of members; to increase awareness amongst UK businesses of the importance of trade marks and designs and the expertise of members; to promote the expertise of members to IP professionals especially those outside Europe; and to ensure that the voice of ITMA is heard and its aims are promoted through good communications.  Many of the aims and objectives are achieved through the writing of press releases and articles, attendance at exhibitions and conferences and the development of relations with other bodies, both in the UK and overseas.

Chairman: Tom Farrand, tomfarrand@ip21.co.uk

Professional Guidance & Disciplinary
The work of this Committee is to give guidance to members (when called upon to do so) and to examine disciplinary complaints.  A Case Manager is appointed in respect of each complaint and the first task is to assess whether there is anything in the complaint and then to see if the complaint can be met by action by the complainee. If all this fails, the matter is eventually referred to Council for a decision. It is worth noting that this Committee may well be replaced by another body as a result of the Legal Services Act 2007. 

Chairman: Don Turner, dturner@beresfordpatents.co.uk

Programme
The responsibility of the Programme Committee is to organise an educational and promotional programme for the Institute.  The Committee arranges evening meetings and afternoon seminars in London and in the provinces and two conferences annually (one of which is often overseas), with the aim of the continuing professional development of members.  In addition, the Committee organises functions such as the Bar reception to promote the Institute and its members to others, and social events such as the ITMA Christmas Lunch.

Chairman: Linda Bray, linda@wildbore.co.uk

Review
The job of the Review Committee is to produce the ITMA Review each month, the in-house publication of the Institute. The print edition is mailed to members each month (with a double issue in summer) and an online version is posted elsewhere on this website. The Committee meets monthly to discuss the previous issue, proposed content of the next issue, and future commissioning. There is now a large number of potential contributors of case reports and other articles from the UK and overseas, for which members can earn CPD points.

Chairman: Tania Clark, tclark@withersrogers.com

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