Reflecting on World IP Conference 2025... and looking forward to 2026!

Joint chairs of this year's World Intellectual Property Day Conference Roisin Higgins KC and Law Society IP Committee member, Mark Cruickshank, reflect on the content of this years' event hosted by the Faculty of Advocates.

Last Friday, 25 April, the 17^th Annual World IP Day conference was celebrated at the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. The event is now a staple of the IP calendar and brings together IP professionals from across all sectors.

This year’s conference featured two extremely interesting talks from Sofie Grettve Von Rosen, from the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, and David Thornton, Manager and Legal Counsel from the R&A in St Andrews.

Sofie provided an overview of reform in the Swedish IP system which has been driven by a recently published Feasibility Study for Strategy in IP.  It identified an underutilisation of IP by SMEs, fragmented governance and legal uncertainty over emerging technology as being the major challenges to the protection and exploitation of IP in Sweden. 

In order to address these challenges, several policy initiatives have been recommended.  These include a cross-departmental approach to develop an overall IP strategy and ensure an alignment between Swedish and EU law, as well as a proposal to review AI-generated content and a desire to address the challenge of collective rights for parties whose works have been used. 

All of this was geared towards ensuring that IP continues to support innovation as it is a key driver for economic growth.

David then provided an overview of his role at the R&A and the importance of IP to the organisation.  As the owner of The Open Golf Championship event and the associated branding, the R&A is responsible for commercialising and protecting those rights, which have worldwide appeal and reputation. 

Challenging fake ticket sales and merchandise is as important as balancing players’ individual sponsorship deals with the R&A’s own rights agreements, in what is a hugely popular and lucrative sport. 

David also shared how important it is to build relationships with communities which host The Open, especially in St Andrews (where the R&A is based), to ensure they support and work alongside The Open. 

Lastly, David shared how the R&A supports the development of golf in developing countries to provide a pathway for players to the professional circuit, as well as its role in developing sustainability initiatives.

The afternoon was rounded off with an opportunity for delegates to enjoy some informal networking with like minded professionals. 

The count down begins for next year's 18^th Annual World IP Day Conference!

Find out more about the Law Society's work on Intellectual Property Conference.