We are the independent regulatory body for Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys.
The Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg) was set up in 2010 by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA) to be the independent regulatory body for the Patent Attorney and Trade Mark Attorney professions.
CIPA and CITMA are Approved Regulators under the Legal Services Act 2007, and in 2010 in order to separate their regulatory functions from their representational functions, as the Act requires them to do, they each set up a Regulation Board (a Patent Attorney Regulation Board and a Trade Mark Attorney Regulation Board) which as far as is possible will act and take decisions together as the Intellectual Property Regulation Board.
IPReg has a Chairman and four Lay Members along with two Patent Attorneys and two Trade Mark Attorneys.
IPReg is responsible for:
- Setting the education and training requirements for qualification as a Patent Attorney and a Trade Mark Attorney
- Authorising the registration and licensing of firms providing IP services
- Setting the requirements for Continuous Professional Development in order that the knowledge, skills and expertise of Patent Attorneys and Trade Mark Attorneys are maintained at a high level
- Setting and maintaining a Code of Conduct for the professions
- Handling complaints of Professional Misconduct against Patent Attorneys and Trade Mark Attorneys and where appropriate taking disciplinary or other action.
Our Policy Statement on the Promotion of the Regulatory Objectives explains how, in the exercise of our regulatory functions, we will promote the regulatory objectives set out in the Legal Services Act 2007.
To help the legal services regulatory bodies to work collaboratively in exercising their public and consumer interest functions, the approved regulators, including IPReg, have signed up to a Framework Memorandum of Understanding.
Should you have any feedback about IPReg, or wish to make a complaint about IPReg, please use our online enquiry system, or email info@ipreg.org.uk. In the case of a complaint, this will be dealt with by either the IPReg Chief Executive or the IPReg Chair.