New Directors for IPO

Three new board level appointments have been announced by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) following recent moves to recruit new talent.

Andrew Layton, who until recently was Director of Nuclear Policy and Liabilities at the Department of Business Enterprise will be joining the board of the UK–IPO today (2 January 2008) as the new Director of Trade Marks and Designs.

The former Director of Trade Marks and Designs, Robin Webb has moved to become the new Director of Innovation.

Edmund Quilty, currently Finance and Business Planning Director at UK Trade and Investment will be joining UK-IPO as the new Director of Copyright and IP Enforcement on January 14, 2008.

UK-IPO Chief Executive, Ian Fletcher said, ‘I am delighted with the new appointments and am confident they will add a breadth of talent and experience to the UK-IPO ahead of what promises to be a ground-breaking year for us and our customers.’

Editor’s notes

Biographical details

Robin first joined the Office as a senior policy advisor in 2000, but left in 2003 to become Head of Budget Planning at the National Assembly for Wales. He returned to the Office in December 2003 as Director for Trade Marks and Designs.
In November 2007 Robin became Director for Innovation.
Before joining the Office Robin worked in several Whitehall departments including Energy, Trade and Industry, and the Cabinet Office. He has also worked as a teacher, before joining the Civil Service in 1989.
Before joining the office on 2 January Andy had been in the DTI (and then BERR) since 2004. He was the director responsible for civil nuclear energy liabilities policy and for the establishment and subsequent oversight of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. He held earlier posts in the Export Control Organization of DTI, managing the teams responsible for assessing applications submitted by companies and individuals for licences to export strategically controlled goods.
Before joining DTI, Andy had an earlier career as an officer and then governor grade in HM Prison Service in which he had a number of operational and policy jobs.
Ed is a career civil servant. He will join the office on 14 January 2008, coming from UK Trade & Investment, where he has been since 2003, covering the finance brief and at various times the HR and IT briefs.
Previous experience has included spells at the Office of Science and Technology where he covered government science policy; the European Commission working on mergers and acquisition control; the DTI covering exports licensing, nuclear R&D and nuclear fusion policy; the Cabinet Office secretariat, and various postings in the then UK Department of Energy.

Date of release: 2 January 2008