Journal

Educational routes into the profession

In his last editorial as Chair of IPReg, Lord Chris Smith says a fond farewell and looks at the challenges the regulator must focus on.

I will – sadly – be stepping down as Chair of IPReg at the end of September this year. The past six years have gone by so rapidly, but it’s been an enormously enjoyable period. When I started, it is fair to say that IPReg didn’t have the best of relationships with CIPA and CITMA; and one of the things I was determined to do was to repair that damage. I do believe that relations are now in a far better place than they were before, and IPReg is on its way to becoming the respected effective regulator that the professions deserve. (I have to observe that a lot of the improvement that has come about has happened because of the excellent staff we’ve had, led very ably by Fran Gillon.)

As well as improving our relationships with the professional representative bodies, I had one other overwhelming ambition: to revise our rules and guidance notes to make them properly fit for purpose, to eradicate inconsistencies and overlaps, and bring them up to date. We completed the review, and by and large, I think the new rules have been a real success. One of the biggest changes, of course, was to CPD requirements – moving away from a box-ticking process to a self-reflective, bespoke approach. That must make better sense in a world where keeping up to speed with all the developments that are happening is so important.

There is still much work to be done. Looking seriously at the educational routes into the profession will be the most important task for IPReg in the next couple of years. During my term, we did take a long and hard look at the way Queen Mary University of London was delivering its courses, and we secured very substantial improvement. We now need to find ways of resolving the dilemma that we’re a very niche and small-in-number profession, but we need the widest range and choice we can get, of routes in to becoming an attorney.

We need to get better, also, at helping to expand the diversity of the profession. There’s wonderful work being done by IP Inclusive, but we all need to maintain our commitment to diversity and inclusivity. Donald Trump may not like it, but having the broadest possible range of people serving the profession means ensuring we have the brightest and the best.

We also need to work together – IPReg, CIPA and CITMA – to ensure that the impact of artificial intelligence on the work of patent and trade mark attorneys acts to improve service to consumers rather than to make it worse. We’ll see and hear a lot about this, in the years ahead, I’m sure.

There’s a big agenda for the future. One thing I know very clearly, though; intellectual property – and safeguarding its role and importance – will be absolutely crucial to the success of the UK and its economy in the years to come. Patent and trade mark attorneys will, I’m certain, play a leading role in achieving that.

Lord Chris Smith, Chair of IPReg
April 2025