IP Federation accounts 31 December 2021: Annual Report and Unaudited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021

ISSN 2634-3207 – formerly Trends and Events, ISSN 2046-3049 It is a privilege to introduce this, our centenary edition, of the annual journal of the IP Federation. In marking such a milestone, it is natural to look back at our achievements over the last hundred years, including our contributions on intellectual property (IP) issues. Alongside articles reflecting on our history and successes, you will find this edition packed with commentary on topics challenging the entire IP framework. – Scott Roberts, President

In 1920, the Spanish flu was raging its final battle against the world. By the end of 1920, it had infected a third of the world's population (an estimated 500 million people) and killed 50 million. Europe was seeing a rise of far-right radicalized political movements. In August 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the US Constitution giving women the right to vote, although it would be decades later when that right would be afforded to all women. The boom of economies in the 1920s would soon come to an end, with Black Tuesday leading to the Great Depression. Though many people didn't know it when the Paris Peace Conference ended, another world war was just around the corner. At the same time, the world witnessed great leaps in progress in science, technology and the arts. By the end of the 1920s, the world would benefit from Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, the first liquid-fueled rocket, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Winnie-the-Pooh. And on 23 April 1920, the IP Federation (previously known as the less catchy Trade Marks Patents and Designs Federation) was established.  

The UK’s departure from the European Union provides the opportunity for the negotiation of new international free trade agreements with trade partners around the world. In July 2018 the UK Government Department for International Trade (DIT) launched four separate 14-week public consultations on trade negotiations with the US, Australia, and New Zealand, and on potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The IP Federation responded to those consultations in October 2018 – IP Federation policy paper PP 6/18. With the subsequent withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020, the UK’s focus on securing exciting new trading deals with many nations and regions, including the US, Canada, Japan, the EU, Australia, New Zealand and the CPTPP, has intensified.

Scott Roberts, President Scott is a UK Chartered Patent Attorney and European Patent attorney with 20 years of experience in patents gained in both industry and private practice. Scott joined the patent profession after 10 years’ experience as a software engineer and a period lecturing in computer science. He has worked in-house at both British Telecommunications and IBM specialising in comput­ing and telecommunications technologies. Scott has represented both BT and IBM at the IP Federation since 2008 and chaired the IP Federation patent committee from 2016 to 2019.

How large IP owning businesses have shared their most valuable assets to help combat Covid-19 The centenary of the IP Federation could hardly have come at a more challenging and difficult time for the economy. In the past, it has been asserted that intellectual property rights are unhelpful in times of crisis, when technological cooperation is most called for. However, the reaction of the UK's biggest IP owning businesses to the current crisis could not paint a more different picture. A combination of continuing innovation and the sharing of hard-earned rights, the result of so much investment of time, money and resources, is being used to combat the challenges facing our society as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. That sharing has taken many different forms and encompassed many differ­ent intellectual property rights. Companies have literally opened their books and shared complex technical drawings, tools, data and know-how. Highly qualified personnel have been mobilised across different companies to ensure that this cooperation is effective in the achievement of key goals. Vital innovation has been pooled and shared to enable rapid progress in technology and pharmaceutical developments. The help, innovation and cooperation of IP Federation member companies in support of those handling the Covid-19 crisis has taken many different forms.

2020 has been an active year for the Trade Mark Committee. We began the year with a committee meeting at Norton Rose Fulbright, with the fabulous views of the City that firm has. Ironically, I encouraged the group to “attend the next meeting in person” as we were due to have Darren Meale of Simmons & Simmons attend to demonstrate his trade mark comparison AI tool, Rocketeer™. Little did I know at that point that we wouldn’t be meeting in person, or indeed coming to the City at all, for the rest of the year. The UK’s departure from the EU has of course continued to be of crucial importance to trade mark owners in industry, especially with the end of the transition period looming, and has taken up a significant amount of the committee’s time. Among the topics we have considered are addresses for service (see another article in this publication for more detail); EU trade mark (EUTM) to UK trade mark conversion and the potential for duplication as a result; and approaches that members will take to EUTM filing after the end of the transition period. It has been helpful to share our approaches and perspectives on these complex topics and I hope that the results have been of merit for preparing our respective organisations for the UK’s new relationship with the EU.

IP Federation accounts 31 December 2020: Annual Report and Unaudited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2020

How large IP owning businesses have shared their most valuable assets to help combat Covid-19

Throughout the 2018/2019 period, IP Inclusive has gone from strength to strength, with increased awareness and recognition across the IP Professions, the establishment of a number of new Communities and the introduction of regional networks. The IP Federation is a member of IP Inclusive Management (IPIM), the governing body that over­sees everything done under the IP Inclusive banner, with Carol Arnold from the IP Federation in the role of Secretary. In January 2019 Richard Goddard, President of CITMA, became Chairman of IPIM.