Journal

The Mercer Review

Foreword

The Mercer Review is a report on a consultation undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) on the education, training and assessment arrangements for entry onto the UK Register of Patent Attorneys (the Register) maintained by IPReg as a Registered Patent Attorney (RPA) and for election as a Fellow and Chartered Patent Attorney (CPA) of CIPA. The review was commissioned by CIPA Council in March 2019 and commenced with a call for evidence with a closing date of 14 February 2020. Whilst commissioned by CIPA Council, Council was clear that the review should be independent of the governance of CIPA and that Council saw itself as a stakeholder in the process alongside its external partner organisations involved in the organisation of the education, training and assessment of patent attorneys.

The Mercer Review raises a number of key considerations for all stakeholders involved in patent attorney education, training and assessment. The report includes a number of recommendations from those engaged in the analysis and synthesis of the evidence submitted by respondents. Where recommendations are made, these are the views of the Mercer Review group and should not be read as the views of CIPA Council. The recommendations are intended to facilitate further discussion and debate between the key stakeholders that will lead to improvements in the systems, mechanisms and processes in place for patent attorney education, training and assessment.

CIPA Council thanks all those who submitted evidence and the members of the Mercer Review group for considering the submissions and developing the report and recommendations. CIPA Council welcomes comments from all stakeholders on the report of the Mercer Review and asks that written responses are sent to CIPA’s Chief Executive, Lee Davies, by 31 December 2021. CIPA Council is happy to meet with interested parties to discuss the content of the Mercer Review where respondents would find this helpful in making their submissions. Responses should be sent to the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive, Charlotte Russell at [email protected] and should include ‘Mercer Review’ in the email header.

Index

• Introduction and Executive Summary
• Chapter 1 – Skills and Knowledge
• Chapter 2 – Training
• Chapter 3 – Assessment
• Chapter 4 – Governance
• Chapter 5 – Summary of recommendations
• Annex 1 – Glossary of abbreviations and terms
• Annex 2 – The Members of the Review Group
• Annex 3 – The Call for Evidence, January 2020
• Annex 4 – List of Documents Reviewed
• Annex 5 – IPReg Middlesex Review of FD4
• Annex 6 – List of Skills and Knowledge