When Gillian Deas started her career in industry the idea that she – or indeed any woman – might become president of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA) would have been almost unthinkable. What makes the story even more remarkable is that Gillian began her working life doing something entirely different. 'My first job as a teenager was in Shell working in human resources,' she explains. 'I soon realised, however, that this wasn’t the right career for me.'
At that point, you might say, fate intervened. Shell had a vacancy in its trademark division which was part of its marketing and communications department. 'I'd always been attracted by the idea of working in the field of law, so I applied for a job there as a trademark assistant,' explains Gillian.
The fact that Gillian not only made an enormous success of her career switch, but also then pushed herself to the summit of her new profession is a tribute to both changing times and her own grit and drive. Her initial career progress was, it must be said, against the odds. 'I noticed that all the trademark attorneys were men and all the assistants were women,' she recalls. Unabashed by this she made her ambitions clear, and through what can only be described as a haphazard system of learning on the job and by attendance at evening lectures and 'the odd course' she went on to become the first woman at Shell ever to qualify as a trademark attorney.
Some 20 years later in 1997, after marriage and motherhood, she resumed her career by making the 'very exciting change' of going into private practice with D Young & Co, a highly regarded top 10 UK firm. 'It was a time when businesses started to realise the enormous importance and value of their intangible assets in the shape of brands,' she recalls. In fact, as things turned out, she could hardly have worked for a more prestigious client. Harrods is among the world's best-known brand names and Gillian was sedulous in its protection. Her success, along with a number of other achievements, led her to becoming a partner in the firm in 2004.
For many that would have been an entirely fulfilling career peak. But for Gillian the opportunities kept on arising before her and she seized them with both hands. First, through colleagues in D Young & Co, she became involved in ITMA and was then elected as a member of its Council. Subsequently, when the vacancy arose at short notice, she took on the role of treasurer. From then on she was heading for the top. She became president in the spring of 2008.
A period of change
The next two years – covering her period of office – could not be a more critical time and Gillian is deeply aware of the responsibilities which face her. ITMA is confronted by 'opportunities and challenges' both at home and internationally, and her job is to ensure she steers the organisation around the rocks while taking advantage of the favourable currents.
In the UK, the top issue is the Legal Services Act which will have a major impact on the nature and regulation of the legal profession. As well as allowing, in due course, external investment and mixed partnerships (for example between barristers and solicitors) it is obliging professional bodies to separate out their representative and regulatory roles. Gillian is now driving through this process as well as dealing with related issues, such as setting up a joint board – the Intellectual Property Regulation Board – with the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys to look after all administrative matters. In addition, a major consultation exercise has just commenced on the education and training of trademark attorneys in order to ensure that the system is as effective as those of the other legal professions. Amid all this she insists that it is vital that ITMA should also 'continue with its lobbying activities' But she admits that 'overseeing these negotiations and the process of change is a delicate task'.
'We need to build on the strengths and qualities we already have in the UK and take those skills to the wider world.'-Gillian Deas
Equally demanding is the goal of ensuring that ITMA members take up fully the opportunities which are available to them and, in particular, Rights of Audience. Here Gillian suspects that many trademark attorneys may be missing out on what could be a development of enormous significance to the long-term health of the profession. It is a complex issue because, as she concedes, many trademark attorneys would not relish the cut-and-thrust of court appearances. So Gillian is pressing that the 'Litigation Certificate' element should be available on its own in order that trademark attorneys who did not want to qualify as advocates should at least have the right to conduct litigation. 'We are now engaged in preliminary negotiations with the Ministry of Justice about this,' she says. ‘This could be of considerable benefit especially to the younger generation. My ultimate aim would be to incorporate the Litigation Certificate into our own award.'
Amid all these concerns one has to factor in the current, worrying, state of the economy. How will the credit crunch and general belt-tightening impact on the profession? At the time of this interview there were, Gillian says, no signs of any contraction in the trademark market. In the medium term, however, she is concerned that smaller profits may deter investment in the development and launch of new products and brands. As to pressures on fees? 'Well, we live with that all the time!' she responds.
In any case, balanced against the travails faced by Europe and the US, there is the reassurance that in the globalised economy there are plenty of jurisdictions which are relatively unaffected and where Gillian and her colleagues in the profession expect to continue to be active. ‘My impression is that in many places it will continue to be business as usual, she says.
Global horizons
There is all the more reason then to ensure that ITMA's role and qualifications should be increasingly seen as global in status. Given that so much of the world's trademark business is conducted in English, ITMA members have an instant advantage and Gillian set a clear objective in her inaugural president's speech on the eve of World IP Day in April, when she declared: 'For the UK profession to flourish and grow, I believe we need to build on the strengths and qualities we already have in the UK and take those skills to the wider world. We need to demonstrate that the UK profession is ideally placed to be the Gateway to Europe for international businesses seeking trademark protection in the EU.'
She is also intent on increasing ITMA's influence with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) so that it can have more input into both its operations and the international treaties which provide the foundation for international trademark protection. 'In this respect, I shall hope to lobby them to speed up their operations; to clarify systems of notification and to strengthen users' rights.' she says.
Already, since she took office, she has acted as ITMA’s emissary to Japan attracting 'huge support for a message which is going down surprisingly well’. (The US may, she admits, be a harder nut to crack.) She also visited China where again she had a very good reception. The Chinese, of course, have a curse about 'living in interesting times'. There is no question that these are very interesting times indeed. But I suspect that Gillian rather believes that she is blessed to be here.
This article first appeared in IP Review, issue 23
