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| Contains public sector information licensed under the OG Licence v3.0. United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office, Newport |
The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office provides two important business functions:
- Administrative: it registers titles to new inventions, brand indicators and the appearance of products; and
- Judicial: it resolves disputes between those claiming such assets.
It is because those services are important that the Menai Science Park ("M-SParc")'s contribution to WIPO's global celebration of intellectual property examiners and Wales Enterprise Day will be a seminar on working with the Intellectual Property Office. It will take place at the science park's premises in Gaerwen and online on 11 Nov 2025. I announced the event in How to Apply for a UK Patent, Trade Mark or Registered Design on 31 July 2025. We now have an agenda and confirmed speakers.
The event will begin at 12:00 with an introduction by Nia Roberts, who will chair the event. Nia has a lifetime of experience in science, technology and intellectual property, both as a patent attorney and examiner, which she is now sharing as a consultant and non-executive director. She spent part of her career at the European Patent Office in Munich.
Nia will be followed at 12:10 by Emma Richards, who represents the Intellectual Property Office in the devolved nations. Emma will introduce the concepts of intellectual property and intellectual assets and explain the difference. She will talk about registrable and non-registrable rights and how each set of rights may be acquired. She will outline the Intellectual Property Office's services and discuss the Office's relationship with the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Patent Office and other national and regional intellectual property offices.
We have invited and are waiting to hear from two distinguished intellectual property practitioners to fill the next two slots. One will be a patent attorney who is already well known to M-SParc, while the other will be a trade mark attorney. They will explain their roles and how they can assist businesses in Wales and beyond. They are expected to speak from 12:30 and 12:50 respectively. The patent attorney will mention applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the trade mark attorney trade mark applications under the Madrid Protocol, and design registration applications under the Hague Agreement.
The main speakers of the day will be Robin Jones, a recently retired patent examiner, who will speak from 13:10 to 13:30 and a trade mark examiner colleague of Emma Richards, who will speak from 13:30 to 13:50. They will indicate what they look for in a successful patent or trade mark application and identify any common errors and advise they can be avoided. Examiners do not often have the chance to speak to the public in this way, so what they have to say will be extremely useful.
If an application goes wrong, an examiner's decision can be challenged in a hearing before an official appointed by the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks known as a "hearing officer." Hearing officers also adjudicate in disputes with third parties, such as whether a patent or trade mark should be revoked, oppositions to the registration of trade marks, applications for the invalidity of trade marks and the settlement of terms of licences of right of unregistered design rights. I will discuss such hearings and further appeals either to the Appointed Person in trade mark or registered design cases or to the High Court between 13:50 and 14:00.
The seminar will close with a reminder of the funding and support that is available for startups and other small and medium enterprises in the UK generally and in Northwest Wales in particular, from Gwenllian Owen, Commercialization and Innovation Officer at M-SPark and partner of Team Mesen,
Anyone who wishes to discuss this article may call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during UK office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.
