Our IP Paralegal members continued to make important progress this year, under the leadership of Annemarie Parsons, who took over as chair of the IP Paralegal Committee from Julia Tribe.
The Committee started 2023 with a focus on ensuring that all Paralegal members had the opportunity to be involved with the committee and help steer the structure of the membership group.
We received a ‘Highly Commended’ award at the MemCom awards 2023 for our work in engaging with Paralegal members and growing numbers within the grade, all largely due to the work of the IP Paralegal Committee and the staff supporting it.
IP Paralegal membership reached 549 by the end of the year, up 9.8% on the previous year – our largest annual growth within the grade since its launch in 2018.
Our Paralegal Conference continued to be a great opportunity for IP Paralegals to gain knowledge, engage with informative speakers, and network with others, with approximately 190 delegates in attendance.
The IP Paralegal Committee said farewell to long-standing Committee members Jaqueline Jones and Rosalind Robello. Jacqui and Ros have been integral to the success of both the membership group and the growing success of the training for Paralegal members. We thank them both for their time and support during their time on the Committee and in various working groups.
During 2023, the Committee revised its terms of reference. The main change to the terms was the introduction of annual elections for between two and four new committee members. The initial election was in in November, putting in place a new Committee to start for the start of 2024.
Testing for the highly anticipated Advanced Patent Paralegal Course (APPC) commenced in January 2023, where a selected group of volunteers (APPC Students) completed the first module (GB Unit). Once materials were released, the APPC Students were then allotted time to complete a list of activities related to that module which included a requirement to provide feedback after each stage. At the end of the allotted time, Students completed an assessment in an open-book, scenario-based setting, which was then submitted to the course leads.
The APPC Working Group continued developing materials for the remaining three core modules based on feedback received.
