Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys

The Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA) was founded in 1934 as the British professional body for trade mark attorneys. Its purposes are "to promote high standards of training, qualification and continued learning in order to ensure that the Trade Mark Attorney profession is able to undertake on behalf of clients, large and small, all of the work associated with securing and protecting trade marks and other intellectual property rights, for example registered designs, both in the UK and abroad."

The Institute is the professional body responsible for the regulation of the Trade Mark Attorney profession under the Legal Services Act 2007, and for representing the interests of the profession, nationally and internationally. Subsequent to this Act, the Institute established with the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) a separate regulatory arm which operates at arms length under the Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg).

At any time, the Institute has about 1600 members; as well as the core fully qualified Trade Mark Attorneys, its membership also includes those training to be Trade Mark Attorneys, foreign Trade Mark Attorneys and other professionals in other related areas of the law, e.g. barristers who have a Trade Mark/Design interest.

Current officers

The President of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys is Chris McLeod, Partner at Elkington and Fife. He was elected to the position in April 2014. The First Vice-President is Kate O'Rourke of Charles Russell Speechlys LLP; the Second Vice-President is Tania Clark of Withers & Rogers; and the Treasurer is Richard Goddard of BP.

See also

• British professional bodies
• Intellectual property organization
• List of topics related to the United Kingdom
• UK Intellectual Property Office

External links

• ITMA Website