FICPI’s Practice Management Committee (PMC, also known as the Professional Excellence Committee and shortened to PEC) focuses on how intellectual property attorneys do business as IP firms and thus complements the work carried out by FICPI’s Study and Work Committee (known by its French acronym, CET), which looks at the laws and the offices that we deal with daily.

PMC was established in 2008 to deal with matters of professional practice, with the objective of maintaining the standards of the IP profession to the highest level and further developing them, in addition to FICPI committees focusing on patent and trade mark issues already in FICPI.

PMC aims to provide information and guidance to FICPI members about practice management, to support firms in their everyday business life and development.

Therefore, PMC organises the Practice Management stream of FICPI’s educational meetings, such as its Open Forums, including sessions on the profession as a business. 

PMC takes the lead in matters of continuing professional development, the promotion of standards and best practices, and the profession as a business. PMC helps by identifying trends in the profession and IP marketplace as well as challenges in the profession, and offers targeted advice.

It also deals with practical issues relating to IP asset management, IP valuation, litigation insurance and the like.
PMC is organised into working groups and any member is free to raise any issue that might be of concern to them and of interest to other firms.

Some of the current PMC working groups are:

  • Reaction against the new competition from service providers (BRACE)
  • Pricing methods and fee structure
  • IP valuation
  • IP practice management benchmarking questionnaire
  • Best practices when automating workflow in an IP firm
  • Profit generation in IP firms

PMC has also produced publications such as "Guidelines for Engagement Letters", “Guidelines for Communications between IP Firms” and its “Report on Six Sigma Projects in IP Law Firms”. FICPI's library of IP Practice Management Guides is available to all members. 

Any member of FICPI is welcome to join PMC, share their knowledge and experience, present on a specific topic, or raise any current issue and discuss it with colleagues who might encounter the same concerns.

PEC News

PMC no longer wants to be FICPI’s best kept secret – and we need you to help us

Posted by Anne Lévy
Tue, 01/31/2023 - 20:34
Be honest, did you know that FICPI now has a Practice Management Committee?
Read More

PEC // 6th April PEC webinar - tools for the digital nomad

Posted by Anne Lévy
Mon, 04/04/2022 - 17:39
Featuring Louis Lagler, a Vice President of FICPI's Professional Excellence Committee and Partner at Rentsch Partner in Switzerland
Read More

PEC - Practice tip of the month

FICPI's Practice Management Committee (also known as the Professional Excellence Committee or PEC) has now (July 2022) published its Guidelines for Engagement Letters, a document which helps FICPI members to draft best practice engagement letters between IP firms and their clients. 

Click here to view the PDF.

Anne Lévy, President of FICPI's Practice Management Committee, says, "The new guidelines set out the purpose of an engagement letter, and cover the five key parts - including the mandate and invoicing, plus additional provisions relevant to local territories. Drafted by Alain Leclerc, member of PMC/PEC  and Partner at Fasken in Canada, with support from other PMC/PEC members around the world, the guidelines also include a sample engagement letter which can be tailored to your firm's business practices."

The main author of the guidelines is Alain Leclerc, member of PEC  and Partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin (CA), with contributions from:

  • Julian Crump, FICPI President and Partner at Abel+Imray (GB)
  • Chris Bird, member of PEC and Principal at FPA Patent Attorneys (AU)
  • William Hammond, member of PEC and founder of Cabinet Hammond & Cie (FR)
  • Louis-Pierre Gravelle, Vice President of PEC and Partner at Bereskin & Parr (CA)
  • Louis Lagler Vice President of PEC and Founding Partner of Rentsch Partner AG (CH)
  • Anne Lévy, President of FICPI's Practice Management Committee and Managing Partner at Brandon IP (FR).
President
Name Company Country Contact
Ms. Anne Lévy
Cabinet Brandon IP
France
Vice-Presidents
Name Company Country Contact
Mr. Louis Lagler
RENTSCH PARTNER AG
Switzerland
Mr. Louis-Pierre Gravelle
Bereskin & Parr
Canada
Members
Name Company Country Contact
Dipl.-Phys. Dr.-Ing. LL.M. Karl Heinz Rackette
RACKETTE Patentanwälte PartG mbB
Germany
Mr. Barış Atalay
Alfa Patent Stan Advoka Ltd. Co
Türkiye
Ms. Anna L. King
Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
United States
Mr. Michael Liebetanz
Isler & Pedrazzini AG
Switzerland
Mr. R. Danny Huntington
Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C.
United States
Mr. Ivan Bacellar Ahlert
Dannemann, Siemsen, Bigler & Ipanema Moreira
Brazil
Mr. Stephen G. Krouzecky
Australia
Ms. Samar A. Al-Labbad
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org)
Egypt
Dipl.-Chem. Dr. rer. nat. Ruth Christophersen
Janke Scholl Patentanwälte PartG mbB
Germany
Mr. Martin Bensadon
Marval O'Farrell & Mairal
Argentina
Ms. Mireia Curell Aguilà
Curell-Suñol SLP
Spain
Mr. Arild Tofting
Bryn Aarflot AS
Norway
Mr. Joakim Hammarsjö
Awa Sweden AB
Sweden
Mr. Chris Bird
FPA Patent Attorneys
Australia
Mr. Ian Gill
AA Thornton & Co.
United Kingdom
Mr. Steven H. Leach
Ridout & Maybee LLP
Canada
Ms. Ximena Castellanos
Castellanos & Co
Colombia
DI Peter Puchberger
Puchberger & Partner Patentanwälte
Austria
Mr. Marek Łazewski
LDS Łazewski Depo & Partners
Poland
Ms. Shauna M.A. Paul
MacRae & Co.
Canada
Ms. Britta Fromow
James & Wells
New Zealand
Mr. Alain M. Leclerc
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin
Canada
Mr. Bryan M. Gallo
Pearne & Gordon, LLP
United States
Mr. Christoph Müller
Hepp Wenger Ryffel AG
Switzerland
Mr. Yoshihiro Ichii
ICHII INTERNATIONAL I.P. Firm
Japan
Dipl.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. M.S. (MIT) Patrick Erk
Grünecker Patent- und Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB
Germany
Mr. Bertrand Loisel
Cabinet Plasseraud
France
Dr. Sudhir Raja Ravindran
Altacit Global
India
Ms. Sini-Maaria Mikkilä
Boco IP Oy Ab
Finland
Mr. Ahmad Saleh
Al Tamimi & Co.
United Arab Emirates
Ms. Lisa J. Moyles
Moyles IP, LLC
United States
Ms. Maria Malburg
Dannemann, Siemsen, Bigler & Ipanema Moreira
Brazil
Dipl.-Phys. Dr. rer. nat. Malte Köllner
Köllner & Partner mbB, Patentanwälte
Germany
Mr. P. Branko Pejic
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
United States
Mr. Folke Johansson
Papula-Nevinpat
Finland
Mr. Marc Levieils
Regimbeau
France
Mr. Philip Mendes Da Costa
Bereskin & Parr
Canada
Mr. Justin J. Cassell
Workman Nydegger
United States
Mr. William Hammond
Cabinet Hammond & Cie.
France
Ms. Sunita K. Sreedharan
SKS Law Associates
India
Mr. Felipe Claro
Claro y Cia.
Chile
Mr. Eduardo Mello e Souza
Dannemann, Siemsen, Bigler & Ipanema Moreira
Brazil
Dipl.-Chem. Dr. rer. nat. Jobst Wibbelmann
Wuesthoff & Wuesthoff, Patentanwälte PartG mbB
Germany
Mr. Bastiaan H. Koster
Von Seidels
South Africa
Mr. Guillaume De La Bigne
Cabinet LLR
France
Mr. Peter H. Huntsman
Marquette IP
Australia
Mr. Didier Intès
Cabinet Beau de Loménie
France
Mr. Vikrant Rana
S.S. Rana & Co. Advocates
India
Ms. Neha Chugh
IPR International Services
India
Dipl.-Chem. Dr. rer. nat. Christoph Schreiber
dompatent v. Kreisler Selting Werner - Partner- schaft v. Patentanwälten und Rechtsanwälten mbB
Germany