Members responded to the return of our annual programme of in-person conferences with real enthusiasm.
We sold out Congress, the Paralegals Conference and the two-day Life Sciences Conference, with more than 670 delegates enjoying the buzz of being together again with friends and colleagues in a conference setting.
CIPA Congress
Congress returned as an in-person event for the first time since 2019. For the first time, our showcase event was held outside London, visiting Cambridge in the East of England.
The event sold out with 146 attendees meeting at the Hilton Cambridge City Centre on 3 October 2023. A range of speakers from industry, private practice and government delivered talks that covered: an update on the EPO’s digital transformation; an analysis of the use of AI in the IP industry; a look at spin outs and how IP is impacted; an examination of research culture which looked at clusters, IP commercialisation/valuation and IP strategy; a review of plausibliy in recent case law and a scrutiny of the strategies of patent assertion entities.
Congress was followed by a drinks reception (sponsored by Sun IP) and a dinner (sponsored by the event’s main supporter Thomson Reuters). We would also like to thank the other sponsors RWS Group, IpQuants AG and Uppdragshuset Sverige AB.
The success of the Congress in Cambridge encouraged the CIPA Congress Committee to select Kimpton Charlotte Square in Edinburgh as the location for our nexyt Congress, on Wednesday 9 October 2024. This event will focus on the impact of the Unified Patent Court.
Paralegals Conference
The IP Paralegals Conference was held on 19 October with 188 attendees at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City.
The sell-out event was hosted by CIPA’s Chief Executive Lee Davies, who compèred with his usual energy and humour.
The content was provided by an array of experts including paralegals and attorneys from private practice and industry, a UK regulator, as well as officials from the UK IPO and the EPO.
Topics included: Assignments – comparing US and UK EP; Digital transformation at the IPO; the Unitary Patent – recent and upcoming changes; Information disclosure in US patent prosecution – key considerations and best practices for IDS filings; and IPReg’s continuing competence requirements.
Other highlights included a panel discussion that focused on education and career progression, and an entertaining and inspiring post-lunch talk by Andrea Brewster OBE, Lead Executive Officer of IP Inclusive.
We were grateful to the event sponsors: John Venn and Sons; Blair Consultant Services Ltd; and Sun IP. In 2024, the Paralegals conference is leaving London for the first time and will visit the Hyatt Regency Birmingham on 17 October 2024.
Life Sciences Conference
The two-day Life Sciences Conference completed a hat-trick of sell out conferences in 2023 – with 338 attendees descending on The Grand Hotel in Brighton on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 November.
The conference is the UK’s premier annual educational and networking event for patent and IP professionals working in the pharmaceutical, medical technology and biotechnology sectors, providing a friendly environment for in-house and private practice professionals to network and share experiences.
Topics on day one included: UPC update – the view from industry; Data and market exclusivity for medicinal products; SPC update; EPO: Life after G2/21; AI in the patent profession; Research tools – freedom to operate and related challenges. The scientific presentation was entitled ‘Stemness Within an Involuting Organ: Thymus Regeneration and Clinical Implications’.
The second day focused on case law updates and developments with speakers covering the US, the EPO and the UK. There was also a UK IPO update that looked at up-and-coming changes, as well as a look at recent Biotech/SPCs decisions and appeals.
CIPA would like to thank the event sponsors Sun IP and ABC Translations.