[A2k] UK: New Head of UK Patent office appointed- Ian Fletcher

[Michelle Childs]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/20/patent_chief/
Science minister names new Patent Office chief
Ian Fletcher, this is your life
By Lucy Sherriff
Published Tuesday 20th March 2007 13:17 GMT


Ian Fletcher has been appointed as the new chief executive of the UK
Patent Office. Fletcher, currently serving at the International
Directorate in UK Trade and Investment (IDUTI), will succeed Ron
Marchant, the incumbent, when he retires at the end of March.

Marchant said he is confident Fletcher will take the office "forward
on its chosen path".

This April, the Patent Office will become the Intellectual Property
Office. The name change is supposed to reflect its wider role in a
post-Gowers world.

Minister for science and technology Malcom Wicks said it was an
exciting time for the Patent Office: "The recent Gowers Review of
Intellectual Property redefines the Patent Office's role both in the
UK and abroad, seeing intellectual property rights as vital for
British businesses. I look forward to working with him [Fletcher] and
the office as it develops."

In the official announcement of his appointment, Fletcher declared
himself "delighted" to be joining the Patent Office, and who would
expect anything less?

"[The Patent Office] already plays a vital role in the UK's economic
prosperity, its scientific excellence and its innovation system." he
said.

"As the office moves on to tackle to challenges set out in Andrew
Gowers' review, the office's role will become even more central to
the UK's response to the challenges of globalisation."

Fletcher's civil service career began in 1989 when he joined the
Monopolies and Mergers Commission, having spent his early career in
the New Zealand diplomatic service.

He has since worked at the European Commission and for the UN before
returning to the UK and joining the DTI. He later became principal
private secretary to Sir Andrew Turnbull, the Cabinet Secretary and
head of the Home Civil Service before moving to his current role at
the IDUTI in 2004. =AE

Michelle Childs
michelle.childs@cptech.org