In memoriam: Ivor Davies
We regret to report the death of Ivor Davies, an Honorary member of CITMA, who headed the trade mark team at what was then Haseltine Lake for many years.
Ivor Davies, a widely respected figure in the trade mark profession, died at the age of 93. Thank you to one of his colleagues, Jane More O’Ferrall, for providing these words.
During his career, he did not seek high office in ITMA (as it was) but nevertheless was selected for Honorary Membership, which tells something of his nature and qualities.
Ivor’s hail-fellow-well-met demeanour and hearty chuckle overlay a sharp intuition and shrewd ability to quickly assess a situation, qualities which made him a very effective and well-regarded practitioner, and valued source of sound advice.
The self-described “black sheep of the family” had not conformed to expectations, and strayed to London rather than pursuing a career as a school teacher in rural south Wales.
Ivor possibly had too irreverent a sense of humour to have been a model classroom teacher, but it worked well with young recruits into the trade mark profession.
The many people who benefitted from his professional tutelage will remember his wry take on verbiage, and axiom that it should be possible to fit everything worth writing onto one page of a letter.
He had a way of delivering a frank negative opinion, often via his catchphrase “a load of bloody rubbish”, which never seemed malicious: his good nature saw to that, as did his lilting Welsh accent.
The accent also served him well when putting an argument to a client or hearing officer.
Despite his aversion to bombast, Ivor knew exactly when to slow the cadence of speech and emphasise the rolled “r” for maximum effect.
At the age of 90, the twinkle in Ivor’s eye was undiminished. He was close to his family and they regularly holidayed along with grandchildren (his wife, Betty, predeceased him many years earlier).
Although his golfing days were over, and his love of a gin and tonic had been tempered, he retained a lively interest in the firm and the profession to which he had contributed so much over the years.
Always his own man, Ivor is remembered, with fondness, as an engaging and generous-spirited friend and colleague.
Words by Jane More O’Ferrall