Journal

Mercer Review: Annex 6 – List of Skills and Knowledge

List of Skills and Knowledge

The following table shows the list of skills and knowledge collated by the group. The table shows our views on:

• when the skill/knowledge item should be acquired,
• whether the item is something which IPReg recommends learning in their Competency Framework for patent attorneys
  (https://ipreg.org.uk/pro/admission-to-register/training-and-supervision),
• whether it is currently tested by the PEB examinations and EQEs,
• if not currently tested, whether the item could be the subject of a course, examination, webinar, or other learning or assessment option, and
• whether the item is something that could or should constitute a compulsory part of CPD post-qualification.

Generally speaking, with respect to the foundation qualification, trainee patent attorneys can currently qualify to this level via: the PEB’s Foundation Certificate examinations, the QM-UL Certificate in IP course, the Brunel University course, or the Bournemouth University course. For the sake of simplicity, we have only considered the syllabi of the PEB’s Foundation Certificate examinations to generate the list below.

It is noted that there are currently no alternatives to the PEB’s FD examinations.

The stages of progress are as follows:

• Pre-registration – this refers to knowledge and skills required to reach ‘Foundation’ level qualification.
• Registration – this refers to knowledge and skills required to reach ‘Finals’ level qualification.
• Post-registration – this refers to knowledge and skills required to become a highly-skilled patent attorney (in a particular area, specialism, practice, etc.). Not all of these items will apply to every attorney, as these will depend on the attorney’s practice, working environment and so on.
• Independent – this refers to knowledge and skills that a patent attorney may need in order to set-up their own practice.

For the full table of the list of skills and knowledge please see the pages 39-52 of the printed journal or PDF.