Michael Jewess, Brunel LECTURE on professional
ethics, 29 October 2026: “handout” for
students
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(I) Abbreviations used
Bodies: CIPA Chartered Institute of Patent
Attorneys, CITMA Chartered Institute of Trade Mark attorneys, IPReg
Intellectual Property Regulation Board, SRA Solicitors Regulation Authority,
EPO European Patent Office, EPI European Patent Institute, UPC Unified Patent
Court.
Attorneys: RPA registered patent attorney
(UK), CPA chartered patent attorney (UK), RTMA registered trade mark attorney
(UK), CTMA chartered trade mark attorney (UK), EPA European patent attorney.
Legislative: CDPA Copyright Designs and
Patents Act 1988, TMA Trade Marks Act 1994, LSA Legal Services Act 2007, UKPA
Patents Act 1977, USC United States Code.
Other: CPD continuing professional
development, IDS information disclosure statement (USA), SPC supplementary protection
certificate, JV joint venture, PII professional indemnity insurance.
(II) Structure of the lecture
Slide 0:
Opening slide.
Slide 1:
The lists you are aiming for.
Slides 2 to 4:
The benefits to the client of your being on a list.
Slides 5 to 7:
Outline of the rest of talk.
Slides 8 to 12: Regulatory documents and disciplinary
procedures
Slide 13:
The big ethical rules summarised (also reproduced under (III) below
for your easy reference).
Slide 14:
Serving the client.
Slides 15 to 20: Ethical obligations trumping the interests of
the client.
Slide 21:
In-house practitioners are bound by the main ethical obligations.
Slides 22 and 23: Conflict of interest.
Slides 24 and 25: Differences in-house vs private practice.
Slide 26:
General ethical issues with a special flavour for prospective lawyers
such as you.
Slide 27:
Closing slide.
(III) The ethical rules of all regulators, so far as the big issues are concerned, reduced
to three (compare Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics):–
“Rule 1 – The attorney must uphold the rule of law, act in the
interests of justice, act with honesty and integrity towards all, and preserve
his or her independence.
“Rule 2 – The attorney must act in the best interests of the
client, offering a good standard of service, within the constraints of Rule 1.
“Rule 3 – The attorney is entitled to be paid for his services,
within the constraints of Rules 1 and 2.”
(IV) Suggested reading (compiled 20 October 2026)
Michael
Jewess, Inside intellectual property
(CIPA, London 2013):
Chapter 2 “Ethics and privilege”, which overlaps
with this lecture;
Chapter 1 "Legal Professional Quality",
which deals in more detail with the ethical obligation to provide a good
service to clients;
Chapter 5 “Patenting”, which describes in more
detail the ethical challenge in relation to patent novelty searches;
Chapter 8 “Branding”, which challenges the value to
the client of some trade mark work;
Chapter 11 “Intellectual property agreements”,
which at para 11.06 discusses dubious negotiating tactics; and
Chapter 15 “The financial model”, which at page 312
discusses how charging practices can misalign the interests of the practice
with those of the client.
IPReg’s
principal documents (all new and effective on 1 July 2023, material changes
made in 2026 in relation to client
complaints):
“IPReg’s Core Regulatory Framework”, https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-04/core-regulatory-framework-2026_0.pdf. Amendments in 2026: (a) paragraph 5.5
inserted into Chapter 2 relating to observance of the new “Complaints Code of
Practice”, and (b) correction to running headers.
“Complaints Code of Practice”, https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-04/complaints-code-of-practice-2026.pdf. New in 2026, higher status than Guidance,
by virtue of IPReg Core Regulatory Framework, Chapter 2, paragraph 5.5. Definition in “Glossary” means that it
applies compulsorily only to complaints by those (small) clients entitled to
complain to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO).
See also the explanation by IPReg at https://ipreg.org.uk/pro/ipregs-regulatory-arrangements/complaints-code-practice-new-2026
(addressed to practitioners) and https://ipreg.org.uk/what-to-do-when-things-go-wrong)
(addressed to potential complainants, amended to avoid eliminate a previous
material error, September 2026). For the
original legal basis of the Ombudsman’s work, see Leo, Scheme Rules, https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/media/oughytel/scheme-rules-april-23-final.pdf,
especially paragraph 2.1, in turn reflecting the Legal Services Act 2007,
section 128 and SI 2010 No 2091.
“Guidance” (non-binding):
https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/Client%20money%20guidance.pdf;
https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/PII%20Sandbox%20guidance.pdf;
https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/Transparency%20and%20cost%20guidance.pdf
(see paras 17 to 21 for “uplifts” = markups), some revision contemplated in
IPReg Business Plan 2026 in partial implementation of 2025 report by Frontier
Economics; and
https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/Character%20and%20Suitability%20guidance%20.pdf.
“IPReg Glossary”, defining terms used in the above (but
not “public” as used in the Framework, Ch. 2, para. 3.10), https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-04/ipreg-glossary-2026_0.pdf. Updated 2026 to reflect Chapter 2, para 5.5
in the Framework by addition of definitions of “complaint” and of “first-tier
complaint”. Note that the definition of
“first-tier complaint” does not cover any complaint made directly to the legal service
provider (as one might expect) but (following the LSB Section 112 requirement
of 16 May 2024) covers only those complaints made directly to the legal service
provider by clients entitled to have
recourse to the Legal Ombudsman.
However, the new definition of “complaint” may enlarge the scope of
customer comment to which the entirety of Clause 5 applies and to the proper
scope of annual reporting of complaints to IPReg.
IPReg, Rights to conduct litigation and rights of audience
and other reserved legal activities certification rules 2012 (commencement
date 31 December 2012, as amended to 19 January 2015 according to text, but
file name inconsistent with this): https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/IPReg_Regulations_Website_amended_July_20161.pdf. These rules deal mainly with litigation, but
under Rule 9 patent and trade mark attorneys are allowed to draft deeds relating
to intellectual property rights and to administer oaths. (Administering oaths is the discharge of a
public office and cannot be done by an attorney or a solicitor for his own
clients, and is an activity for which a small fixed fee is prescribed. See Nicholas Fox, CIPA Journal, June 2013.) In
relation to litigation, https://ipreg.org.uk/pro/ipregs-regulatory-arrangements/litigation-and-rights-of-audience-rules
comments on the case of Mazur v
Charles Russell Speechlys LLP relating to those without rights
of audience assisting those with right of audience.
IPReg, Russian and financial sanctions,
extending to “legal advisory services” from 30 June 2023, https://ipreg.org.uk/pro/russia-and-financial-sanctions,
and linked guidance.
IPReg, Anti-money laundering (2019), https://ipreg.org.uk/pro/practice-development/anti-money-laundering,
and linked guidance.
Administrative
Council of the European Patent Organisation, Regulation on discipline for
professional representatives (in force from 21 October 1977, amended to
2018), regularly republished, most recently at https://patentepi.org/assets/uploads/documents/rules-regulations/4.3.2-260210.pdf.
European Patent Institute, The code of conduct of the Institute of
Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (decided 13
November 1979, supplemented and amended to 2025), regularly republished, most
recently at https://patentepi.org/assets/uploads/documents/rules-regulations/4.2.1-260210.pdf.
Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act
2025. See IPReg, https://ipreg.org.uk/what-is-an-attorney
and https://ipreg.org.uk/online-register-faqs. Within England, Wales, and Northern Ireland,
“lawyer” is not a protected term, but under this Act in Scotland it may be used
only by those with certain regulators.
According to the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025
Sections 90 and 16 these regulators are The Law Society of Scotland, The
Faculty of Advocates (acting on behalf of the Court of Session), and the Association
of Construction Attorneys. The Legal
Services Board uses the term “lawyer” to describe all persons it regulates, but
apparently a UK and/or European patent or trade mark attorney cannot describe
himself as such in Scotland.
Disciplinary cases against lawyers:
English solicitor making false allegations against the British Army,
struck off, SRA awarded costs of ≥ £0.25 M:
https://solicitorstribunal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/11510.2016.Philip-Joseph-Shiner.pdf.
Closures of solicitor firms by the SRA:
in 2023, https://www.sra.org.uk/news/news/axiom-ince-intervention-information/;
in 2026, https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/sra-shuts-down-eight-office-home-counties-law-firm.
1 solicitor involved in the Horizon prosecutions by The Post Office
referred by the SRA to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as too serious
to be dealt with by the SRA’s own powers:
Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal:
https://www.sra.org.uk/news/news/post-office-jun-26/. Link gives link to entire history suggesting
another 19 investigations of individual solicitors or firms are in
progress. The SRA are working with the
Metropolitan Police.
RPA’s dealings with client resulting in his removal from register of
RPAs and being ordered to pay IPReg
£47.5 k approx.:
https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-07/ipreg-v-k-boden-final-panel-determination-version-for-website_0.pdf.
A full list of IPReg’s disciplinary cases, most of which are no longer
retained on the website, is at https://ipreg.org.uk/if-things-go-wrong/disciplinary-findings.
Caveat
on the above links:
Links to .pdfs above take you directly to the documents current on 20
October 2026, to make it easier for you to access and inspect them before the
lecture. However, at future times, do
not rely on these links, as old versions may get left on the websites with the
new version having a different url. For documents
applying to UK attorneys, start from the IPReg home page and then proceed via
the tabs. For documents applying to
EPAs, proceed from https://patentepi.org/en/the-institute/rules-and-regulations.html.