Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – working together to encourage a diverse profession

Encouraging a diverse profession – building a clearer profile  

The IPReg 2024 Diversity Survey closed on 30 July, and you can read the report which includes finding and analysis, here.  While there have not been significant changes since the last survey, the data does give us a more up to date picture of the diversity profile of the professions and we are now considering some key policy areas in light of these findings.

The Legal Services Act 2007 has a regulatory objective of ”encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession”. The Legal Services Board, the oversight regulator of legal services in England and Wales, has set the diversity regulatory framework for all legal regulators:

Diversity Profile - the regulator continues to build a clear and thorough understanding of the diversity profile of its regulated community (beginning at entry), how this changes over time and where greater diversity in the workforce needs to be encouraged

Regulatory Arrangements/Operational Processes/Other - the regulator uses data, evidence and intelligence about the diversity of the workforce to inform development of, and evaluate the effectiveness of, its regulatory arrangements, operational processes and other activities

Collaboration - the regulator collaborates with others to encourage a diverse workforce, including sharing good practice, data collection, and other relevant activities.

Accountable - the regulator accounts to its stakeholders for its understanding, its achievements and plans to encourage a diverse workforce.

 

In January 2024, the IPReg Board adopted a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan. The Board will monitor progress against the Action Plan every six months.

IPReg is committed to improving the breadth and quality of reporting of the diversity profile of attorneys on the IPReg register. The main 2024/25 business priorities for IPReg were to undertake a diversity survey of registered attorneys, and to develop our approach to data gathering and research with other stakeholders in the IP secto. We have published the results of two previous diversity surveys: the Diversity Statistics Summary 2017 illustrates the limits of the earlier profiling exercises; the 2021 Diversity Survey provides more detailed information.

Building up a clearer picture of the diversity profile of registered attorneys this will help inform IPReg policy and provide a platform for our EDI workstreams. Our work on diversity also helps to inform our work on education, in particular, our work on barriers to entry and progression in the profession and exploring different routes to qualification for patent attorneys.

Working together - funding of Diversity Initiatives

We continue to allocate a specific amount in our budget to support diversity initiatives. Initiatives which have been funded include:

  • Generating Genius  works with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the funding was for its “proof of concept” work to develop web-based source materials for school science club teachers;
  • along with a small number of other legal regulators, we promoted the Legal Choices website  and the regulators through sponsoring logos on a London Pride Parade bus; the IPReg Board has been represented in person at the parade;
  • contributions have been made towards the operating costs of IP Inclusive;
  • In2Science summer programme.

IP Inclusive – promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity throughout the IP professions

IP Inclusive is an initiative set up by CIPA, CITMA, FICPI-UK, the IP Federation and the UK Intellectual Property Office devoted to promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity throughout the professions. Find out more at: IP Inclusive.  IPReg has signed up to its Inclusive Charter; in doing so, “we commit to supporting equality, diversity and inclusion by:

  1. Having in place a named individual within the organisation as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Officer.  This person needs to be sufficiently senior to make change happen and to be accountable for your progress.
  2. Having in place a written Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy for your organisation and making everybody in the organisation aware of it.
  3. Promoting openness and transparency so as to demonstrate merit-based equal opportunities in your recruitment and career progression processes.
  4. Acknowledging the effects of unconscious bias and introducing measures to tackle it.
  5. Monitoring and reporting internally on your progress using measures and at intervals that are appropriate to your size and nature.
  6. Sharing your experience within the IP Inclusive community to help build an effective network for equality, diversity and inclusion across the IP sector”.

 

IPReg is also a member of the IP Profession's Senior Leader's Diversity Think Tank, which is hosted by IP Inclusive, and includes representatives from CIPA, CITMA, and members from the Patent and Trade Mark professions. The Think Tank provides a space for each organisation to highlight their diversity initiatives, share knowledge and experience, and identify common areas where the profession can collaborate to create a more chesive approach to equality, diversity and inclusion in the IP sector. 

Our Chair, Lord Chris Smith of Finsbury, is IPReg’s named EDI Officer, to demonstrate the importance of diversity matters for IPReg. Please see Lord Smith’s LGBT+ Writing The History Blog written for IP Inclusive to mark LGBT+ History Month.

IP Inclusive