Yes, another story of a patent attorney who would have been better advised to cooperate with IPReg’s investigation. John Hardwick came to IPReg’s attention by letting his professional indemnity insurance lapse, which seems to be a very common route to the IPReg Disciplinary Panel. He had previously explained to the PI provider (some years before)…
Engage, don’t hide
We previously reported on the Breen and Brothers decisions, two registered professionals who let their professional indemnity insurance lapse and were given a formal warning as a result. Both were also ordered to pay costs, of £900 and £1200 respectively. IPReg has now issued a further decision which highlights the importance of both maintaining proper…
No, the other Mark Hamill.
News from the USA this time, concerning a patent attorney by the name of Mark A. Hamill., who is not to be confused with Mark R. Hamill. The latter is well-known for appearing with a bunch of muppets, and is unrelated to the former who has just been struck off from practising patent law in…
Ensure you Insure
IPReg have issued a couple of new decisions, both on the theme of compulsory professional indemnity insurance (“PII”). Our Code of Conduct requires that we have PII, that it is “commensurate with the risks at large arising from the extent and size” of our practice, and that it is from one of the named insurers…
Integrity
It’s one of those things that is quite difficult to define. Any attempt to come up with a rigorous and clear definition meets the same problem that the US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart found when trying to define “obscenity”. He resorted to saying “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of…
More on Messrs Joshi & Welch
We previously reported on the IPReg decision in relation to Joshi & Welch Limited – see here. That decision found that the firm had been left without professional indemnity cover, in breach of IPReg’s professional conduct rules. IPReg decided to suspend Manish Joshi for 6 months and Duncan Welch for 8 months. The Intellectual Property…
Take care when closing down…
Messrs Manish Joshi and Duncan Welch were once in partnership together, as “Joshi and Welch”. By all accounts they were both skilled trade mark attorneys – this author has heard nothing but praise for their professional abilities. However, it seems that they fell out – why, I genuinely have no idea, but fall out they…
Aaron Wood – uninsured!
IPReg have issued a sanctions decision in respect of Aaron Wood, former principal of the UK trade mark firm Wood IP* and now with the regional law firm Blaser Mills. It seems that Mr Wood forgot to renew his professional indemnity insurance, which is a bit of a slip as IPReg’s rules of conduct require…
Where is Dr Boden?
Hmmm. It seems that Dr Boden, famous for his involvement in the case of the doctored Patent Office letter, has vanished from the Fry Heath & Spence website. Clicking the list of “Partners and Staff” doesn’t give a listing for him. He is also listed on Companies House as having resigned from Fry Heath &…
Dr Keith Boden fails at the European Patent Office
Dr Boden (partner in Fry Heath & Spence LLP) has upset someone else. After having been caught doctoring a letter to his client and being reprimanded for it (see our previous post discussing Keith Boden’s style of client care), this time it is a Board of Appeal at the European Patent Office. We happened to…
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