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2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
Executive summary
The 2024 CIPA Membership Survey had 690 respondents, which is about 1 in 7 of the total membership. Respondents included 458 Fellows (1 in 6), 96 Students (1 in 11) and 77 Paralegal Members (1 in 7). Respondents ranged from those starting their IP career in 1958 to those starting in 2024. Of the respondents, 71% worked in private practice, with 25% in industry.
In terms of the route to the profession, the IP Careers website is an increasingly important source of information for potential applicants, although the printed Inside Careers Guide is of vastly decreased importance compared to the 1990s, as is also the case for university careers services. Open days, careers talks and university careers fairs all appear to be increasing in importance in guiding successful candidates. The majority of respondents qualified or qualifying as patent attorneys used the university course route rather than the PEB exams, but there has been an increase in the use of the exams in the last few years.
In terms of diversity, although the membership is predominantly male (54%) compared to female (36%) membership, in the 2020s recruits have been 48% male and 45% female, which is an encouraging trend. The range of sexual orientations represented in the membership has increased over time, with the proportion describing themselves as heterosexual decreasing from 85% to 70% between the 1990s and the 2020s. Similarly, the proportion describing themselves as “white British” has decreased from 84% in the 1990s to 69% in
the 2020s, with notable increases in members from Asian and African backgrounds in the last few years. This is accompanied by similarly increasing diversity in religion or faith.
The majority (66%) of members were educated in UK state schools with 19% educated in fee-paying schools. In the 2020s, the proportion of recruits from feepaying schools has increased to 25%, which is a concern for the inclusivity of the profession considering that only 9% of British pupils are educated in fee-paying schools. 10% of respondents indicated that they were entitled to free school meals while at school. The proportion of recruits from “Oxbridge” has remained between 20% and 26% with 40% to 52% from other Russel Group universities.
52% of recruits in the 2020s had a Master’s degree, with 26% having a a Doctorate and just under 20% having a Bachelor’s degree. The proportion of recruits indicating that they were the first in their family to go to university has decreased from 56% in the 1990s to 26% in the 2020s. This may reflect the general increase in university attendance over this period.
Regarding search and examination quality at the EPO, 31% of Fellows and EPO members agree or strongly agree that it has decreased in the last years, with 19% in disagreement or strong disagreement, but 46% neither agreed nor disagreed. There was little dissatisfaction with the content of the CIPA newsletter and LinkedIn came out way ahead of any other social media channel for professional use. The feedback on CIPA’s representational and networking activities was also positive.
Matt Dixon, CIPA President (2024)
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
1. What is your category of CIPA membership? *
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
2. In which sector do you currently work?*
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
3. In which year did you start your first job in the patent field?
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
4. Before you started your first job in the patent field which sources of information did you use to find out about the profession?*
* Results by decade of start year in IP. Members could select as many responses as applied.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
5. Which route to become a qualified patent attorney did you take/are you taking?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
6. How do you describe your gender identity?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
7. Is your gender indentity the same as the sex you were registered at birth?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
8. How do you describe your sexual orientation?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
9. Which of the following best describes your ethnic group or background?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
10. How do you describe your religion, faith or belief?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
11. Which, if any, of these caring responsibilities do you have?
* Results by decade of start year in IP. Members could select as many responses as applied.
2024
12. Do you consider yourself to have a disability as defined in the Equality Act 2010?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
13. In which region of the UK did you live for the most time between ages 11 and 16?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
14. Which type of school did you attend for the most time between the ages 11 and 16?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
15. If you went to school in the UK and finished school after 1980, were you eligible for free school means at any point during your school years?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
16. If you have a degree or higher education qualification through which of the following routes did you obtain it?
* Results by decade of start year in IP. Members could select as many responses as applied.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
17. What is the highest level of academic qualification that you held when you started your first job in the patents field?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
18. If you went to university, were you part of the first generation of your family to do so?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
19. In which of the following UPC-related activities have you participated personally?
* Results by decade of start year in IP. Members could select as many responses as applied.
2024
Member Survey Summary of Results
20. According to the Industry Patent Quality Charter group “the search and examination quality of the EPO [has] decreased in the last years”. From your own experience, to what extent do you agree with this statement?
* Question for Fellows and EPA members only.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
21. Do you regard receiving a printed magazine as an important benefit of CIPA membership?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
22. How often do you read the Journal?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
23. How often would you like to receive the CIPA Newsletter?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
24. How satisfied are you with the content within the CIPA Newsletter?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
25. Which of the following social media channels do you use in your professional life?
* Results by decade of start year in IP. Members could select as many responses as applied.
26. How often do you use the CIPA website?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
27. How easy is it to navigate the CIPA website?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
28 Are there any additional comments you would like to share with us about the website?
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
29. How well do you think CIPA has represented the influence of members for the profession’s benefit?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
30. How well do you think CIPA has supported networking and the professional community within the profession?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.
2024 Member Survey Summary of Results
31. What would you consider to be the ideal duration for a soft skills training session?
* Results by decade of start year in IP.