IPO – Who we are?

Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is the official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.
We are an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) . As part of the BEIS, we are responsible for the role of IP rights in supporting innovation.

We are helping the UK to become the most innovative and creative country in the world by:

• Delivering excellent IP services
• Creating a world leading IP environment
• Making the IPO a brilliant place to work

We’re responsible for:

• IP policy
• Educating businesses and consumers about IP rights and responsibilities
• Supporting IP enforcement
• Granting UK patents, trade marks and design rights

BAME NETWORK AT IPO

BAME is a network that was set up in 2017 to support our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues in the IPO. Our aim is to ensure that the IPO remains a brilliant place to work for ALL people and that we continue to encourage people of BAME background to join us working at the IPO.

Some of our recent achievements include:

• We’ve held 2 excellent, virtual panels exploring “Questions white people are too scared to ask”. The sessions aimed to tackle some of difficulties in language and terminology and give people confidence to be great allies.
• We continue to support the business by advising on Trade Mark applications which may face moral objections for racial/cultural reasons.
• Our network chair, Michelle represented the IPO at a BAME panel in the Senedd with the Black Young Professionals Network.

IPRIDE AT THE IPO

iPride is the IPO’s LGBTQ+ Network group. iPride will stand for all those who have shared experience in the realms of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. Their mission statement is – If you believe in equality, fairness and inclusion, then you can’t pick and choose. We will also be an ally to any of our colleagues who need support or encouragement.
For more information on the IPO iPride network, head to our site on LGBTJobs.co.uk: https://lgbtjobs.co.uk/company/Intellectual%20Property%20Office/

ICAN AT IPO

The iCAN Network has been set up to support and provide a voice for colleagues with disabilities. Its aim is to help colleagues access all the information and services the IPO offers promoting equality for all. We raise awareness of issues faced by individuals and groups due to their impairment and help to improve access, facilities, benefits all employees, customers and users of our services.

ITHINK AT IPO

iThink is the IPO’s neurodiversity network for colleagues with autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia etc. We are committed to making the IPO a brilliant place to work for those with neurodiverse conditions and supporting all colleagues to better understand how these conditions affect people. We run staff talks on colleagues experiences of living and working at the IPO with autism and dyslexia along with a number of other projects to make the IPO a brilliant place to work.
For more information on our i-Can and i-Think networks, head to our company page on DisabilityJobs.co.uk: https://disabilityjob.co.uk/company/Intellectual%20Property%20Office/

More of the IPO’s Inclusive Network Groups:

Women’s Inclusive Network
WIN is the Women’s Inclusive Network supporting the IPO to be a workplace where everyone can reach their full potential regardless of gender. This network is supporting the IPO to be a workplace where everyone can reach their full potential regardless of gender. We want to play our part in tackling any barriers to recruiting and progressing women in the workplace so that they can achieve and prosper.

Men’s Network
The Men’s Network was set up as a way of making sure that access to help such as our counsellor service was being accessed equally by men as it is by anyone else. This network was specifically set up for men looking for commonality and support around mental health and wellbeing, as well as supporting men explore opportunities to increase equal opportunities by working in partnership with the women’s network.

Caring for Carer’s Network
Every day 6000 people become carers. It can happen to any of us, sometimes very suddenly. Many carers don’t know how or where to get help. It can be frightening and lonely. The IPO Caring for Carers Network wants IPO staff with caring responsibilities to know they are not alone, there are people who understand the difficulties they face and we want carers to be able to access the help and support available at IPO.

iBelieve Faith Network
iBelieve is the IPO’s Faith and Belief Network. Of all the diversity characteristics, faith and belief tends to be the one we talk about least. All of us, have shared principles and values which frame our everyday lives but many people feel a bit uncomfortable talking about their faith or belief. The role of the iBelieve network is to support those conversations to help us feel comfortable talking about faith and belief at work – including those of us who have no religion or belief.

Mental Health Support
IPO offer a variety of support networks focused around mental well-being; Staff Counsellors, Peer-to-Peer support group, mental health advocates, and “The Haven”. Our focus this year was to measure the effectiveness of our current mental health services. We set ourselves a ministerial target to “externally validate and benchmark our provision for the mental health of our people” and used the MIND Workplace Wellbeing Index as the vehicle for this. At the end of April we received a copy of our report which confirmed that we were one of only 15 organisations this year to achieve the highest category of a Gold Award which is given to organisations which have successfully embedded mental health into their policies and practices.

You can explore more on the above inclusive network groups and much more via our Civil Service Careers Site page by clicking this link: Departments | Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk) and choosing ‘Working for IPO’.

Why work at the IPO?

The IPO is committed to creating the best working experience for our people, and becoming a brilliant place to work is a key pillar of our corporate strategy. This is important to help ensure we attract the right people who are committed, who stay, and who will help us become the best IP office.

Part of being a brilliant place to work is having a great culture and operating in an inclusive, open environment. We want our organisation to be built on fairness and opportunity for all with shared values and behaviours, a respect of difference and a common purpose.

Building and strengthening the culture we want takes every person at the IPO pulling together. Our people have supported each other during the pandemic which is testament to the culture and our ‘One IPO’ approach.

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