Twenty Years of Direct Access
At Sayers Solutions, we’re committed to providing our clients with valuable insights and the latest updates to help you stay informed and ahead in your business. To support this, we regularly invite experts from various fields to share their expertise. Today, we’re thrilled to welcome Jane Lambert, a specialist in intellectual property. In celebration of 20 years of Direct Access, Jane will be sharing her insights on this important topic, offering you a deeper understanding of its impact and benefits.
Whether you’re aiming to protect your innovations, navigate the complexities of intellectual property law, or seeking other legal support for your small business, we believe you’ll find this information both useful and insightful.
Last month marked the 20th anniversary of Direct Access.
Jane Lambert is celebrating this very important anniversary because it has cut out many of the costs of accessing justice.
Direct or public access is a scheme by which members of the public in the UK can instruct barristers without going to a solicitor, patent or trade mark attorney or other professional first. The scheme started on 1 July 2004.
To mark the 20th anniversary the Bar Council, professional association body, has launched a new Direct Access Portal and posted some videos on their website, to make it easier for the public to use the service.
What does a Direct Access Barrister do?
How to use the Direct Access Portal?
Barristers advise solicitors and other professional intermediaries on difficult points of law, they draft complex legal instruments and represent parties to disputes in courts, tribunals and negotiations. The relationship between barristers and other legal professionals is often compared to that between consultant physicians or surgeons and GPs in medicine.
Direct access has not changed the type of work that barristers do.
It takes account of the fact that in many cases non-lawyers can formulate the question upon which they need help without the intervention of solicitors or other intermediaries.
Not every type of work is suitable for direct access. For instance, barristers should not accept work under the scheme if it is in the public interest or the interests of their client to involve a solicitor or other intermediary.
Jane Lambert’s specialization is intellectual property.
Which she advises is a collective term for the bundle of laws that protect investment in branding, design, innovation or creativity such as patents, trade marks, copyrights and registered designs.
The typical work that she does under the direct access scheme includes:
- Advising business owners on the optimum IP protection of their businesses, brands, products or services;
- Advising parties to a patent dispute whether a claim is valid and/or whether it has been infringed;
- Drafting computer supply and services contracts;
- Drafting standard terms and conditions of business;
- Negotiating, drafting and reviewing knowledge transfer partnership agreements between businesses and universities;
- Representing parties in ex parte or inter partes proceedings in the Trade Marks Registry or in entitlement or revocation proceedings in the Intellectual Property Office;
- Advising and representing a party to a dispute in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Small Claims Track; and
- Representing parties to disputes over entitlement to domain names ending in “.com”, “.net”, “.org” or other generic top level domains or those ending in “.uk” or other country code names.
Other barristers specialize in other areas of work. Members of the public can find out who does what by consulting the Direct Access Portal.
Although Jane’s practice is administered from London she lives in Holmfirth and can arrange to see clients at the Huddersfield Media Centre. If you want to learn more about what she can do for you, please call 020 7404 5252 during office hours or click this link at other times. You will also find her on X and Linkedin.
We hope you found this insight from Jane Lambert about Direct Access and Intellectual Property both informative and beneficial to your business.
Protecting your ideas and innovations is crucial in today’s competitive landscape, and having the right knowledge can make all the difference.
If you have any further questions or need expert advice, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Additionally, if you’re looking for ongoing support to strengthen your business strategy and marketing efforts, consider joining the Sayers Solutions Small Business Marketing and Strategy Club. ‘The Club’ provides cost-effective access to expert advice, along with valuable peer support through regular meetings and a dedicated WhatsApp group chat.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and stay tuned for more expert contributions to help you navigate the ever-evolving business world.