Patent Office Name Change Heralds New Era

“A new era dawns as the Patent Office changes its name” says Philip Harris, President of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA).

From 2 April the Patent Office will be known as the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) which at last will reflect the fact that the Office covers all aspects of Intellectual Property (IP), not just patents.

Philip Harris says:

“As the pre-eminent professional body for trade mark attorneys in the UK we have been working with Government and the Patent Office to increase public awareness of IP for many years.

“It has been clear to us the name of the Patent Office has been an inhibiting factor in helping the public to understand that IP covers not just patents, but also – and just as importantly - trade marks, copyright and designs.”

“The change of name to the UK-IPO can only help to remove this confusion and will help to promote IP to the public more effectively.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA) was established in 1934 as the professional body representing those persons qualified to act for the owners of trade mark and allied intellectual property rights (in particular, registered designs) both nationally and internationally. It now represents the vast majority of UK registered trade mark agents and all UK Trade Mark & Design Litigators.

2. Currently ITMA has approximately 500 practising members; it also extends associate membership to professionals in related fields of law and overseas membership to foreign trade mark attorneys. Its total membership (all classes) is about 1600 members, primarily located in the United Kingdom and Europe, but also in more than 50 other countries.

3. ITMA is regularly consulted by UK government and by international bodies when questions affecting trade mark and allied intellectual property rights arise. It has regular meetings with the UK-IPO, the Community Trade Marks Office (OHIM), the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and other sister organisations in Europe and beyond. For more information visit www.itma.org.uk.

4. In the evidence to the Gowers Review ITMA said: “It is not believed that the subject of IP and its relevance and benefit to business is well publicised in the UK. It is particularly noted that media coverage of IP frequently contains errors, such as references to "registering the copyright in a name" or "patenting the name as a Trade Mark" or "copyrighting a patent" and we believe this increases the public confusion surrounding IP. This could be dealt with by raising IP awareness generally.”

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