Journal

Obituary: Peter Wharton

Peter Wharton 1946-2024

Peter Wharton, Chartered Patent Attorney, founding partner of PR Wharton and Co, long-term partner of Urquhart-Dykes & Lord (‘UDL’), patent management advisor, colourful raconteur, sixties guitarist who played at The Cavern Club, member of many clubs and societies, died on 28 April 2024 in hospital after a short illness.

Peter was born and raised in Liverpool and was very proud of his links to the city. He was a very big fan of live music and a very good guitarist He was a member of several pop groups on the Liverpool scene and he even played on the same bill as the Beatles. His other interests included table tennis and bridge, at which he excelled. He was secretary of the local Rotary Club, and a member of the U3A music and bridge group. He devoted considerable time to carrying out good deeds for others, including until very recently a large amount of fund-raising work.

Peter met his future wife, Hilary, when they were both teenagers. They married in October 1968 and had two lovely daughters, Kirsty and Melissa. Hilary shared Peter’s love of music, both of them enjoying live concert events. Another shared interest was in travelling of which they were able to do quite a lot in recent years.

After completing a degree in chemistry at Liverpool University, Peter joined the firm of WP Thompson on a three-year contract. After qualifying, he moved on to pastures new in Durham, working for the Pyrex organisation. He and Hilary then moved to Yorkshire where he worked for the International Wool Secretariat in Ilkley.

Peter re-entered the world of private practice by setting up as a sole practitioner under the name PR Wharton & Co and built up a successful business before merging it with UDL in 1981. He was a partner of UDL from the merger until his retirement in 2005.

In his younger days, Peter was a keen member of a Dales walking group, the main reward at completion of each walk being a hearty pub lunch and a plurality of pints of beer. However, on one outing per annum, christened a ‘walkless walk’, the outing involved only a short walk from the car park to the pub for an extended lunch.

Peter was a founding member of the OFL group (O for old, L for lunch and F is for your imagination) comprising, not consisting of, retired patent and trade mark attorneys who have been meeting for monthly lunches in Leeds and Manchester continuously since 2007.

Peter was always interested in business management and at UDL was heavily involved in its growth from a small, essentially London-based firm into a substantial presence in IP with 12 partners and 28 fee-earners and with many new offices opened up throughout the UK.

Peter headed UDL’s internal management committee known as Mancom and over time his role became formalised as Managing Partner which continued through to his retirement in 2005.

Peter was an active member of CIPA Council from 1992 t0 2001 including as Chairman of the Finance and House Committee, a role for which he was particularly suited. He also gave freely of his time in connection with educational activities, including the setting and marking of examinations and by giving tutorials.

Peter was a warm, friendly, kind and generous person who will be much missed by all those who knew and worked with him. He is survived by his wife, Hilary, and his elder daughter, Kirsty, his younger daughter, Melissa, having very sadly pre-deceased him.

Bill Orr, Philip Archer and Michael Harrison