Role of the Committee

The Intellectual Property & Data Protection Law Committee was formed by the Law Society as a result of a growing demand for legal services in the area of intellectual property rights and data protection law.

Given the advancement in technology and related legislation the remit of the Committee has expanded over the years to include tech regulation and artificial intelligence regulation.

The purpose of the Committee isto provide information to the solicitors’ profession and an information sharing resource to business, Government, and those involved in the development and enforcement ofdata, IP and tech regulation.

Members and Secretary

Chair: Elaine Morrissey

Vice-Chair: Gerard Kelly SC

Members

• Mary Bleahene
• John Cahir SC
• Simon Carty
• Karen Gallagher
• Ann Henry
• James Hickey
• Deirdre Kilroy
• Paul Lavery
• Eoin Martyn
• Cathal McDermott
• Patricia McGovern
• David McMunn
• Olivia Mullooly
• Aoife Murphy
• Fiona O’Beirne
• Alistair Payne
• Carlo Salizzo
• Barry Scannell
• Laura Scott  

Secretary: Ruth Tracey

Current issues

Current issues on the Committee's agenda include the following:

• Monitoring developments.
• Tracking the implementation of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.
• Meeting with various stakeholders including the Data Protection Commission, the Revenue Commissioner, Coimisiún na Meán, the IPOI, Am Cham, IBEC to discuss a range of data, IP, digital and tech law issues impacting solicitors and the profession.
• Providing information to the profession on data protection, IP and tech regulation via Gazette and eZine articles, webinars and conferences and information on the Law Society website.
• Meeting with Revenue Commissioners to discuss issues involving the import of counterfeit goods arising from Brexit.
• Meeting with the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland to discuss a range of topics including giving feedback on user experience using its website.

Other issues

In addition to the above, the committee has recently:

• engaged with the Law Society in relation to the impact of AI on the profession;
• met with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment regarding the implementation of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive; and
• had discussions with IBEC on the topic of the Unified Patent Court.

The committee continues to assist practitioners in their implementation of data protection obligations. The committee reviews and updates the Data Protection pages on the Law Society website. In addition, committee members have written articles for the Gazette and Practitioner Guidance notes.

Contact Us

Please email any queries to the Committee Secretary, Ruth Tracey.