IPReg, the United Kingdom's regulatory body for patent and trade mark attorneys, came to life on 1 January 2010 -- a public holiday. IPReg has been set up by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA), and its grown-up name is the Intellectual Property Regulation Board. The IPKat wonders whether it should be pronounced with a hard "g" since that letter is part of the word "Regulation", or with a soft "g" since "Reg" without the prefix "IP" would normally be pronounced "j", to rhyme with "Veg". You can visit IPReg's website here, find registered patent and trade mark attorneys respectively here and here, and discover what to do when things go wrong here (bad news for professionals -- this page is for the clients).
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Also, should IPReg be pronounced as a single word ("Ipreg") or with IP as separate initials ("eye-pea-reg")?
ReplyDeleteWhen I attended one of IPReg's seminars a few months ago, the favoured form seemed to be the single word with a hard "g".
At the moment, I'm not too sure what IPREG could do should things do go wrong: per website (client page):
ReplyDelete"From 1st January 2010 the IPReg has taken over responsibility for regulating the patent and trade mark attorney professions, including dealing with complaints of professional misconduct.
What to do if you have a complaint
A complaint about the conduct of an attorney or firm of attorneys must relate to an alleged breach of one or more of the rules set out in the Code of Conduct which applies to both individual attorneys and firms of attorneys regulated by IPReg.
Generally complaints must relate to matters which have occurred within the last 12 months. If the complaint is made outside that period then an explanation why the complaint could not have been brought earlier must be provided.
All complaints relating to an alleged breach of the Code are considered under the Rules of Disciplinary Procedure [to be published]."
The words "cart", "before" and "horse" spring to mind.
Incidentally, I believe that a hard "g" would be more appropriate since the "g" in regulation is also hard - besides I don't believe that an IP Reginald possesses the required gravity.
Clicking on the "Find a Registered Trade Mark Attorney" box on the IPREG site or the IPKat "here" merely directs you to the ITMA home page. The desired information is not accessible on this page. You are unable to see the Register.
ReplyDelete