Letter from IPReg: January 2023
It’s over to the LSB.
Two years of work will yield a fresh way forward, believes Lord Chris Smith
On 10th November 2022, we at IPReg were able to submit our proposals for a major overhaul of all of our regulatory arrangements to the Legal Services Board (LSB).
We’ve worked very hard on our Regulatory Arrangements Review for two years now, issuing first a call for evidence and then a detailed consultation, holding a range of discussions with key stakeholders, analysing evidence gleaned from across the IP sector, and submitting a draft application for initial comment to the LSB.
Now the final document is in, and we will await the LSB’s response over the next few months.
One of the things I was most determined to do when I became Chair of IPReg was to set about simplifying and clarifying our rules and procedures.
There were too many overlaps and anomalies and I was certain we could do better. I hope that this is precisely what we have now achieved with our submission.
We have now been able to set out, in one place, all of the regulatory arrangements relevant to Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys.
We begin by setting out a series of overarching principles: the need for ethical behaviour and for attorneys always to act with integrity, for example. We set out a Code of Conduct.
We emphasise the importance of consumer protection in matters like cost transparency. We bring in greater clarity around admission and authorisation processes.
We propose the modernisation of CPD requirements to make them more meaningful. And we set out what I hope will be clear operational rules.
We’ve been driven by a number of ambitions. We have tried to write the rules in plain English. We have ensured substantial consultation with as many parts of the IP world, including consumers, as possible.
We are seeking to encourage and support innovation. And we want to enhance equality, diversity and inclusivity in the profession.
We will also want to test how all of these changes actually work as we implement them. We’ll want to do a proper impact assessment as they bed in and assess whether they’re working well.
We won’t, of course, have managed to get everything right from the outset; and we need to be able to learn from experience as the new rules are implemented.
But I’m confident that the process we’ve been through and the discussions and consultations we have undertaken have resulted in something to be proud of.
The LSB still has to give its imprimatur, and I’m sure it will question some things, but I’m hopeful that we’re almost there.
When we’ve secured LSB approval for a final version we will then get in touch with every registered attorney to let them know the shape of the changes.
My goal is to make IPReg a regulator that attorneys are proud to be regulated by. The same will, I hope, be true of these new revised rules and procedures.
The Rt Hon the Lord Smith of Finsbury is Chair of IPReg
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