Margaret Tyler MBE
It is with great sadness that we report the death of long-standing company secretary and registrar of ITMA Margaret Tyler MBE.
Margaret Tyler MBE passed away on Sunday 12th January 2025 after a short but sudden illness. Margaret had been a resident of the Wykeham House care home in Horley, following a stroke early in 2023.
Thank you to past-president Ian Buchan for the following tribute:
Born on the 21st August 1944 Margaret shared her early life with a younger brother Alan.
Following school Margaret qualified as a shorthand secretary and worked initially for I.C.I.
Margaret joined the Institute of Trade Mark Agents, as it then was, as Company Secretary and Registrar in 1982 and served in those roles until August 2010. During that time the Institute morphed into the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys.
During those nearly 30 years of dedicated service Margaret was instrumental in, and central to, the many fundamental changes that occurred during that period, all of which dramatically reshaped the environment in which we worked.
These changes included an enormous expansion in the number of members of the Institute, the introduction of the Joint Examination Board, the 1994 Trade Marks Act, European Trade Marks directive, accession to the Madrid Protocol system, and earlier abortive attempts to obtain Chartered status.
Indeed, it would be true to say that many of these fundamental changes that occurred would not have been possible with Margaret’s knowledge, skill, tenacity and dedication. That view is amply reinforced by the tribute below from Mike Knight, a senior hearing officer in the Trade Mark Registry during Margaret’s time with the Institute.
Margaret’s role in the consideration and implementation of all these changes, so far as they affected the Institute and its members, was recognised by the richly deserved award of the MBE in 2005. The MBE was presented by Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture at Buckingham Palace.
All these changes occurred whilst Margaret was also dealing with the day-to-day business of running the Institute and its staff from the office, initially in Holborn, but latterly in Croydon. She was also heavily involved in organising the active and much-loved social side of the Institute, including lectures, various conferences, dinner dances, and Xmas luncheons. Last but not least Margaret supported the Officers and Council of the Institute by organising Council and committee meetings, taking the minutes of all these meetings and providing invaluable advice to those of us who were merely passing through for a few years on Council.
During my time on Council, and latterly as President, I became ever more aware of the range of skills that Margaret brought to her work, along with her dedication to all aspects of the running of the Institute.
As an example of her dedication, and disregard for “office hours”, Margaret would singlehandedly plan of an evening, with a glass of red wine to hand, the table seating for the dinner dances, and Christmas lunches, the latter of which regularly attracted 600 guests. She did this to try to ensure that there were no personality clashes on a table. A goal successfully achieved so far as I recall.
It would be true to say that Margaret was often viewed as the “Institute” such that if one mentioned the “Institute” one immediately thought of Margaret. Margaret treated the work of the Institute more as a vocation rather than a job.
On a personal level I first met Margaret in 1983, when I was a new raw recruit to the profession. I was immediately made welcome, a welcome which grew into a friendship which continued until her untimely death. After her retirement it was a pleasure to meet with her each year at the Xmas lunches, where Margaret, free from the cares of organising things, could relax and we could share a bottle or two and put the world to rights.
Out with the Institute Margaret was heavily involved in Scouting for many years. Initially Deputy District Commissioner for Croydon until 2023, and latterly as President of 6th Croydon Scouts. Again, a shining example of Margaret’s selfless approach to life.
Margaret was also a keen traveller, not afraid of pushing the boundaries. Margaret joined my wife and I, and some of my family, in 2007 on a two-week trek to Everest including Namche Bazaar, 14,500 feet up in the Himalayas in Nepal. Staying in some pretty rudimentary accommodation it was a shared experience on the top of the world that we all treasured.
Margaret and her then husband Chris, had two sons, Neil and Keith, both paramedics, who between them have five children. Keith and his family live in Canada but Neil and Vicki and their family stayed close by in Croydon. Our thoughts are with Margarets family and friends at this difficult time.
Margaret devoted most of her working life to the Institute, which, along with its members, owe her a huge debt. Margaret’s character will be remembered by all who met her and she will be missed with fond affection. Her passing is truly the end of an era.
Mike Knight, a senior hearing officer in the Trade Mark Registry during Margaret’s time with the Institute, provided this tribute:
"From the standpoint of the UK IPO (then just the Patent Office) Margaret was the focal point and the entry point into the Institute.
"That sounds routine and mundane, except for a large part of the time the UK was negotiating with (then) EU colleagues the EU Directive surrounding Trade Marks as well as the protocol to the Madrid Agreement. Thus, we needed views/comments/reactions quickly from the relevant person/s in the Institute. Margaret never panicked, never flapped, and always signposted the Patent Office in the right direction.
"I would like to think that the Directive, Madrid Protocol and the subsequent Trade Marks Act 1994, was in many ways achieved because of Margaret’s diligence and ability to put us in touch quickly with those in the Institute who could give us a quick response.
"On the social side, myself and other hearing officers enjoyed, very much, the events she and her colleagues organised. Her award of an MBE was a well deserved tribute to her ability and devotion to the work of the Institute and its members."