After a rapid adjustment following the government’s advice we have been able to set up all staff to work from home and arranged full access to all facilities to continue operating every aspect of our business throughout this continuing health crisis. We have also recently invested in various areas to strengthen our service departments (in particular our trade marks division) before these developments occurred as outlined below. First, in July of last year we acquired the well-known established trade marks practice of Oakleigh IP Services Limited together with its international client base and wider legal contacts – they are now fully integrated into ip21’s operations worldwide. Next, we have expanded our UK operational base to incorporate new client contact facilities in Cambridge and Ipswich with the first of these, in particular, bringing in a rapid take-up of new business from the scientific and academic community. Finally, we have in the last month been trialling a system in which we offer to supply, free of charge:
- An up-to-date schedule of a client’s IP holdings and pending contentious matters including a ‘next due date’ list
- A review of a client’s portfolio and a report identifying any gaps in protection, e.g. geographically and/or in terms of specification, logos, colours etc; or
- A brief IP holdings report identifying the pending and registered trade mark and/or patent rights of up to three of a client’s principal competitors.
I hope this has given you a snapshot of how we view the current situation and what we are doing to service our clients’ needs and ensure we all emerge stronger from it.
May I please end with the sincere wish that you and those closest to you will come safely through this challenging period, and if you would like to discuss any of the services mentioned above, or any other IP topics, please do get in touch.
Richard Jones, Operations Manager for ip21 Ltd – [email protected] – 01603 457008