To kick things off just before IP Inclusive Week begins, one of our founder members the IP Federation (@ipfederation) will be holding a special meeting, after its monthly Council meeting on 9 November, to discuss best practices in D&I. This will be a great opportunity for in-house practitioners, as well as some of the Federation’s solicitor associates, to share their ideas and experiences. We hope to report some of the key outcomes so that everyone in the IP Inclusive community can benefit from these high-level discussions.
The IP department of Charter signatory HGF (@HGF_IP) is preparing factsheets on topics being tackled by IP Inclusive, which will be circulated to the whole firm each day during IP Inclusive Week. Thanks HGF for making the effort to reach all staff, not just fee earners, to create a more inclusive working environment.
Meanwhile, Charter signatory Fellows and Associates (@FellowsandAssoc) has included a mention of IP Inclusive on the “About us” section of its website in honour of IP Inclusive Week, and they tell us they are also thinking about a celebratory office cake. Please don’t just think about it guys!
Our Careers in Ideas outreach initiative (@CareersInIdeas) will be contributing to a round-table focused on recruitment into the IP professions, hosted by Charter signatory Appleyard Lees (@AppleyardLees) in their Leeds office on 16 November. Careers in Ideas is also working with another of our founder members CIPA (@TheCIPA) on a workshop on social mobility in the patent profession. The CIPA staff, meanwhile, will be holding their own internal workshop, during IP Inclusive Week, on the theme of “inclusive membership”.
Our support groups have also been busy. IP Out (@ip_out) is putting on an event the week before IP Inclusive Week (details here) and our Women in IP network (@WomeninIPI) the week after (details here).
Finally, IP Careers (@IP_Careers) has invited us to contribute a guest post to its website blog, to help us reach more younger members of the profession and potential new recruits. We’re always happy to talk to people about diversity – and we’ll be taking this opportunity to look at the value of a diverse and inclusive workplace in attracting and retaining new talent.
Please get in touch with your own plans and we’ll include them in our regular blogs. Send photos too if you can, particularly during IP Inclusive Week itself. If you’re on Twitter, please share your ideas, plans and updates using the hashtag #ipinclusiveweek and including @IPInclusive in the conversation.
Thanks everyone. Have fun!