Annual Report 2020

Adapting to a new way of working was a fundamental part of this year. We reacted to the situation and adapted to make sure our members were supported.

Supporting our members on the implications of Brexit has been a key focus since 2016 – this year would mark an important final step before the end of the transition period.

To support our members, we led a campaign to get the UK’s rules on address for service changed. The profession came together to support and push for the change to be put into law.

2020 was a unique year. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic we supported our members with a balance of professional information and wellbeing advice. At the same time, we continued to pursue our objective of promoting diversity and inclusion.

Communicating the value of intellectual property protection and promoting the importance of working with Chartered Trade Mark Attorneys to the business community is an important way we can help generate opportunities for our members.

In 2020 we developed our plan for the next three years. The plan and our new strategic objectives are the foundation that will allow us to achieve our vision to be recognised as one of the world’s leading organisations for the development, promotion and protection of the trade mark legal profession.

In 2020, we changed our events provision and provided more online than we ever have done before. This helped us to continue to meet the needs of our members and provide excellent learning and networking opportunities.

Our Law and Practice Committee leads our work on responding to proposed changes to IP law and practice on behalf of our members as well as keeping them up-to-date on the latest developments.

This year we laid the groundwork for re-focusing how we look at the continued development of our members throughout their career.

We have supported CITMA Paralegal members throughout 2020, delivering a wide range of CPD opportunities alongside new initiatives aimed to build a spirit of community in the absence of face-to-face networking events.

We maintained steady membership numbers in 2020, although this was the first time since 2015 that our membership did not grow in size.

Our re-launched trade mark advice clinics proved to be a big hit with businesses, with more than 150 engaging.

Our year in numbers.

Every year we recognise the top trade mark students in the country with our annual awards. In 2020, we were delighted to present theses awards.

We achieved one of our key aims of engaging more members with our content in 2020 – increasing the number of visitors to our website by more than half.