Pipe Down

I was speaking to a trainee patent agent and asked what he thought of the new IPREG examination proposals that we have mentioned here and here. He gave me the view of his principal. This shows commendable loyalty and what might reasonably expected of a devoted apprentice who lives in the blissful hope that all wisdom resides in his master.

However it has to be acknowledged that while his master is probably a master of claim drafting and patent prosecution, he may be a mere amateur when it comes to examination and qualification procedures that provide an adequate safeguard for the public. It is true that the students are also amateurs in this eclectic sphere, but if left unpressurised they can provide IPREG with insight into the practical issues they expect may be imposed on them by the new rules.

Regrettably the fact that students are taking the QMW course without training contracts in hope is offering encouragement to  IPREG in their plans. That does of course mean that the profession is restricted to an input filtered by an academic institution or the larger firms capable of sponsoring students.

Is there any evidence of the skills and aptitudes that are needed by business in their patent providers?

Training patent attorneys: how will streamlining affect small practices?

Wannabe patent attorneys learn how to surf
the web for training contracts ...

Thanks to Nicholas Fox I now have this link to a document entitled "Consultation on simplifying and modernising the examination system for qualifying as a patent attorney", a ten-pager issued by IPReg, the regulatory authority for patent and trade mark attorneys in the United Kingdom.   A couple of points to note:

• The consultation does not cover issues around “in office” supervised training although IPReg will shortly be issuing competency checklists in relation to that “in office” element of training.
  
• Of the 25 students who passed P1 in 2012, 22 were based outside London and 3 were based in London. Most of the students were being trained in attorney firms of 5 or more attorneys with only 1 being trained by a sole practitioner and 1 being in industrial practice. 

The consultation closes at 5 pm on 17th March 2014. Please email your response, if you have one, to Ann Wright, Chief Executive, via ipreg@ipreg.org.uk clearly marking the correspondence “Response to Consultation”.