ITMA Autumn Conference: Treviso provides cultured backdrop for ...

ITMA BUSINESS
kind of things that the Institute could
offer his readers. One of the things
was a brief introduction to design law
and the possible pitfalls, etc.
INTA 2008
Plans were being finalised and the
Ambassador’s secretary had made
contact with the ITMA Office with
regards to his attendance at the
reception on 19 May, 2008 at the
British Embassy in Berlin.
Membership Benefits Group
The ITMA First and Second Vice
Presidents and CIPA representatives
met with Parliament Hill in August.
They acted for a number of
professional Institutes such as ILEX
and CIPFA and were able to offer
considerable savings on financial and
lifestyle services such as health clubs,
magazine subscriptions, retailers, car
insurance, etc.
Council agreed that this was an
interesting project and they would
await further information.
CPD COMMITTEE
Non-Compliance 2007
The Committee were now up to date
with chasing those who had not
complied.
Streamlining of the CPD System
The Committee were looking at
linking the CPD year with the release
of the subscription invoices.
Additionally, thanks to Miss Rogers’
help, they had revised all of their
letters so that there was now a set
procedure for following up those
who were not compliant.
ITMA REVIEW COMMITTEE
September Edition
The Committee were pleased with
the September edition of the Review
which included the photos taken by
the photographer at the Summer
Reception. She was responsible for
the front cover, the summer reception
ITMA BUSINESS
feature photos and the back cover
photo.
Future Editions
The Committee were aware that it
was important to achieve balance
and diversity within the Review and
therefore they had a number of new
ideas which would help achieve this.
Rough Guide
The Committee were looking at
including ‘rough guides’ to
conference locations.
PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
Sponsorship
CompuMark were supplying pens
and pads at this year’s ITMA Autumn
Conference. They were looking at
sponsorship for the Christmas Lunch
and the Committee had noted that
Sweet & Maxwell were sponsoring
the dinner at CIPA’s Congress. Mrs
Glover was currently finding out more
details as to the arrangements and
whether they would be interested in
sponsoring an ITMA event.
ECTA
The Committee were in the process of
arranging a joint meeting with ECTA
for early March.
Evening Meetings
The remaining Evening Meetings for
the year were set up with speakers
confirmed.
As part of the Committee’s review on
charging members to attend Evening
Meetings, Mr Redman had very kindly
looked into accommodation at the
Patent Office’s previous residency in
London. However, it was reported
that the venue would only hold a
maximum of 28 people.
The Committee were also looking
into the possibility of providing audio
recordings of the talks (rather than
film recordings) which would be
made available on the Institute’s new
website as it was thought to be vastly
cheaper. The suggestion was raised
as to whether they could look into
providing pod-casts as well, as this
was something that the Law Society
had introduced.
OHIM Seminars
Flyers were out for the two OHIM
Seminars organised by the
Committee. The first would take place
in London on 13 November, and
Manchester would host the second
one the following day.
IP Bar Reception – 9 October 2007
The IP Bar Reception would take
place at the offices of BATMark, which
had stunning views over the river
Thames and the invitations had been
sent out.
Christmas Lunch
The Institute’s London Christmas
Lunch was planned for the 11
December, 2007. A Manchester lunch
would also take place in however
details were still to be confirmed.
FORMALITIES COMMITTEE
A moderation meeting took place
on 20 September, 2007. At this
meeting, Mrs Wong resigned from
the Committee, Mr Preedy stepped
down as Chair and Mr Farrand was
elected Chairman.
Very few papers were moderated.
There were 43 passes out of a total
of 49 papers submitted. The results
were published on 24 August, 2007.
At their next meeting, the Committee
would look at putting together the
programme for the 2008 course.
PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE &
DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE
The Committee had two cases
already under consideration and a
new complaint had recently been
submitted.
6 ITMA Review November 2007