The IPKat has learned that, last month, the UK's Trade Marks, Patents & Designs Federation (
TMPDF) appointed a new president, Dr Roger Burt. The TMPDF represents businesses -- whether British-based or not -- that have a substantial interest in originating new products and concepts and in seeking to protect their investment through the appropriate level of IP protection. Current members of the TMPDF are
ARM Ltd; AstraZeneca plc; Babcock International Ltd; BAE Systems plc; BP p.l.c.; British Telecommunications plc; British-American Tobacco Co Ltd; BTG plc; Delphi Corp.; Dow Corning Ltd; Dyson Technology Ltd; ExxonMobil Chemical Ltd; Ford of Europe; Fujitsu Services Ltd; G E Healthcare; GKN plc; GlaxoSmithKline plc; Hewlett-Packard Ltd; IBM UK Ltd; Infineum UK Ltd; Kodak Ltd; Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd; Microsoft Ltd; Nestle UK Ltd; Nokia UK Ltd; NXP Semiconductors UK Limited; Pfizer Ltd; Philips Electronics UK Ltd; Pilkington Group Ltd; Procter & Gamble Ltd; QinetiQ Ltd; Renishaw plc; Rohm and Haas (UK) Ltd; Rolls-Royce plc; Shell International Ltd; Sony UK Ltd; Syngenta Ltd; The BOC Group plc; UCB Pharma plc; Unilever plc; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals; Xerox Ltd.
Having both seen and heard Dr Burt in action, this IPKat team member unreservedly welcomes his appointment. From his vantage point in the IP department of IBM he has had a wonderful opportunity to view the strengths and weaknesses of the IP system since his company has a wider experience of patents than almost any other: suing, being sued, proprietary licensing, open-sourcing, technical standard-setting, product branding in both B2B and consumer modes, product design, the IP/antitrust interface -- these all form part of the IBM experience. To be able to take this all in, to practise the skills of listening carefully and responding in sensible objective terms and to retain at least a modicum of one's sense of humour is no mean feat. The IPKat is also pleased to see that -- bucking recent trends in the UK -- the TMPDF has appointed as its president someone who is actually familiar with large chunks of the IP system.
The IPKat has learned that, last month, the UK's Trade Marks, Patents & Designs Federation (TMPDF) appointed a new president, Dr Roger Burt. The TMPDF represents businesses -- whether British-based or not -- that have a substantial interest in originating new products and concepts and in seeking to protect their investment through the appropriate level of IP protection. Current members of the TMPDF are 