We conducted a detailed survey of our members in 2024. The executive summary is listed below with a link to the full survey at the foot of the page.
The 2024 CIPA Membership Survey had 690 respondents, which is about 1 in 7 of the total membership. Respondents included 458 Fellows (1 in 6), 96 Students (1 in 11) and 77 Paralegal Members (1 in 7). Respondents ranged from those starting their IP career in 1958 to those starting in 2024. Of the respondents, 71% worked in private practice, with 25% in industry.
In terms of the route to the profession, the IP Careers website is an increasingly important source of information for potential applicants, although the printed Inside Careers Guide is of vastly decreased importance compared to the 1990s, as is also the case for university careers services. Open days, careers talks and university careers fairs all appear to be increasing in importance in guiding successful candidates. The majority of respondents qualified or qualifying as patent attorneys used the university course route rather than the PEB exams, but there has been an increase in the use of the exams in the last few years.
In terms of diversity, although the membership is predominantly male (54%) compared to female (36%), in the 2020s recruits have been 48% male and 45% female, which is an encouraging trend. The range of sexual orientations represented in the membership has increased over time, with the proportion describing themselves as heterosexual decreasing from 85% to 70% between the 1990s and the 2020s. Similarly, the proportion describing themselves as ‘white British’ has decreased from 84% in the 1990s to 69% in the 2020s, with notable increases in members from Asian and African backgrounds in the last few years. This is accompanied by similarly increasing diversity in religion or faith.
The majority (66%) of members were educated in UK state schools with 19% educated in fee-paying schools. In the 2020s, the proportion of recruits from fee-paying schools has increased to 25%, which is a concern for the inclusivity of the profession considering that only 9% of British pupils are educated in fee-paying schools. 10% of respondents indicated that they were entitled to free school meals while at school. The proportion of recruits from ‘Oxbridge’ has remained between 20% and 26% with 40% to 52% from other Russel Group universities. 52% of recruits in the 2020s had a Master’s degree, with 26% having a Doctorate and just under 20% having a Bachelor’s degree. The proportion of recruits indicating that they were the first in their family to go to university has decreased from 56% in the 1990s to 26% in the 2020s. This may reflect the general increase in university attendance over this period.
Regarding search and examination quality at the EPO, 31% of Fellows and EPO members agree or strongly agree that it has decreased in the last years, with 19% in disagreement or strong disagreement, but 46% neither agreed nor disagreed. There was little dissatisfaction with the content of the CIPA newsletter and LinkedIn came out way ahead of any other social media channel for professional use. The feedback on CIPA’s representational and networking activities was also positive.