IP Bar Association - www.ipba.co.uk |
The Intellectual Property Bar Association is the specialist bar association
for barristers practising intellectual property law in England and Wales.
Intellectual property is a generic term which includes patents, registered trade marks, passing off, copyright, registered and unregistered design rights, performers' rights, trade secrets and breach of confidence. The IP Bar has been used in recent high-profile privacy cases.
Most members of the IP Bar also work on cases outside the ambit of intellectual property which involves complex scientific or technical issues - in particular computer related disputes and technical commercial litigation.
Only a small percentage of a IP barrister's time is spent on non-contentious work. The nature of intellectual property is that it generates a large amount of litigation. Much of the junior practitioner's time is taken up with making and preparing for applications for interim injunctions and other interim relief. This involves a great deal of paperwork, as well as appearances in court, for, as a specialist adviser, the IP barrister will inevitably be heavily involved in the drafting of evidence. As practitioners become more senior, they tend to do less interim work and take on more full actions, which can be extremely complex and lengthy.
Members of the IP Bar appear principally in the High Court. Patent and registered design cases are heard before specialist Patent Judges, and other cases are brought in the general Chancery Division. Since September 1990, there has been an alternative specialist forum, the Patents County Court, for patent and design matters. This is run by His Honour Judge Fysh QC and is based in Breams Buildings. Members also appear in the UK Patent Office, the European Patent Office in Munich, the UK Trade Marks Registry and OHIM in Alicante. European law has had a significant impact on IP law, and a number of members of the IP Bar have appeared in the European Court of Justice and before the EC Commission.
Like all barristers, members are instructed principally by firms of solicitors. However, there is also a long tradition at the IP Bar of being instructed directly by Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys. Several members also accept instructions directly from the public ("DPA").
Many intellectual property disputes have an international element. In particular, actions are often brought simultaneously on equivalent patents in several jurisdictions. It is thus occasionally useful for members to be able to take instructions direct from foreign lawyers. This can be done for two purposes:
(a) advice as to the position in the UK as regards the existence and enforcement of rights in the UK and in some cases, Commonwealth jurisdictions which have closely parallel laws;
(b) advice on non-contentious matters, including the drafting of agreements governed by English law.
Members of the IP Bar are, of course, in sole practice, but are grouped in about seven chambers for administrative purposes. A list of all members of IP Bar and their Chambers is available on this website. Naturally, different barristers will have different areas of particular expertise and different levels of experience. The clerk to each set of Chambers will be able to match a barrister of suitable experience and expertise to the problem in hand, and to give an indication of the fees which would be charged.
For someone who has a serious interest in joining the Intellectual Property Bar, it is usually possible to arrange "mini-pupillages" whereby he or she can spend a few days in a set of Chambers, seeing the nature of the work which is done. This course of actions is highly recommended for any students thinking of the Bar as a career. Mini-pupillages can be arranged by contacting the clerks in Chambers.
The Patent Bar Association was founded in 1972 with the objects of discussing matters of special interest to the Patent Bar of England and Wales, passing resolutions and making recommendations in relation thereto and generally to represent the interests of barristers specialising in the patent and trade mark fields. The name of the Association was changed to the Intellectual Property Bar Association in 1996 to reflect the fact that it represents barristers practising in intellectual property generally.
There are currently over 100 members. Any member of the Bar who practises "primarily and habitually in intellectual property matters including patent, registered trade and service marks, passing off, design and copyright matters" is eligible for membership and there is an annual subscription fee of £25. The pupils of members are also eligible for membership.
The IPBA holds Annual General Meetings in the Autumn. This is usually the only formal meeting needed in the course of a year. Other matters can generally be dealt with by informal consultation. The Chairman representing the IPBA keeps in reasonably close contact with those concerned with reforming the law of intellectual property, mainly at the DTI. Both procedural and substantive law changes are frequent in this area, and the IPBA sees the representation of the views of members of the IP Bar to those responsible for such changes as very important.