The Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group (PTMG, we, our, us) is a not for profit organisation established in 1970 and incorporated into a company limited by guarantee in 2002. PTMG relies on personal data supplied by members so that it can provide goods and services for its members who are interested in the law and practice of trade marks and other intellectual property particularly as they affect pharmaceutical and related industries. All members and prospective members of PTMG should be aware of the data privacy policy set out below.
Data collected by PTMG
In order to be able to offer educational conferences to our members and to provide them with copies of Law, Lore & Practice, the Group’s newsletter for members, PTMG needs to collect and keep information provided in the Membership application form, the Change of Contact Details form (both of which can be found on the PTMG website) or other written or email communication. Such information, hereafter called the Membership data, will include, in particular, name, firm/company/employer, address, telephone numbers and email address.
When registering for conferences we will also collect personal data such as dietary requirements and emergency contact details and, where necessary, special category personal data relating to health issues.
Our legal ground for processing personal data for the purposes of our conferences and wider work is PTMG’s legitimate interest in providing goods and services to those interested in the law and practice of trade marks and other intellectual property particularly as they affect pharmaceutical and related industries.
Our legal ground for processing any health related personal data for attendees at our conferences is consent.
Our legal ground for processing personal data for our newsletter is consent.
How the data is stored
PTMG is committed to ensuring that the Membership data is held securely. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have in place suitable procedures to safeguard and secure the information collected.
Information collected when registering for conferences will be stored securely by our third party conference organisers and full information about how that is stored will be provided at the time of registration.
Data breaches
In the unlikely event of a breach of any personal data held by PTMG, PTMG will, if there is a high risk of individual(s) being adversely affected, notify the relevant individual(s) as soon as reasonably possible. In addition PTMG will notify the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach.
Sharing data
PTMG will share Membership data with a very limited number of third parties and for specific purposes only.
Name, email address and occasionally postal address are shared with the publisher and distributer of Law, Lore & Practice.
Name, firm/company/employer, postal address and email address are shared with third party conference organisers and they, when necessary, will share information which they collect from conference registration forms, such as dietary requirements and health related information, with conference hotels, venue providers and other agencies who assist with the organisation and provision of PTMG conferences. The online conference registration form will provide further details about the sharing of such information.
PTMG also uses Carbonite to provide a backup server and Bluehost to provide an email service. Due to the nature of these services, both companies process personal data on PTMG’s behalf.
We have agreements in place with these organisations which mean they can only handle personal data in accordance with our written instructions. These organisations cannot use your personal data for any other purposes (unless required by law).
PTMG does not sell or share personal data with any third party for their own marketing or research purposes.
Transfers of personal data outside the UK
PTMG’s backup server and email providers are both based outside of the UK. We have appropriate safeguards in place with these companies to protect the rights of members and others whose personal data we process.
Occasionally, PTMG holds conferences outside the UK. If we intend to transfer personal data outside of the UK as part of a conference or otherwise, we will provide full details at the time.
Third party websites
The PTMG website contains links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave the PTMG website, PTMG has no control over that other website and cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites. You should look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Data retention
PTMG holds personal data in respect of members, lapsed members and for general contacts. The retention of personal data for these three categories is as follows:
Members
For current members of PTMG any personal data will be retained until such time as they cease to be a member, unless they cease to be a member by letting their membership lapse.
Lapsed members
PTMG will retain the personal data of lapsed members for a period of 6 years from the date that membership lapsed. This will allow sufficient time to reinstate the membership of a lapsed member who wishes to return as a member. After 6 years personal data of lapsed members will be removed from the Membership List and any paper documentation securely destroyed.
General contacts
Any personal data relating to suppliers, relevant organisations and other people we work with will be retained whilst it is considered to be potentially relevant to PTMG’s work. When no longer considered to be potentially relevant the personal data will be removed from any database and any paper documentation securely destroyed.
Rights of Individuals
All PTMG members and others whose personal data PTMG holds have the right to access, rectify, delete or restrict the use of the data held.
All PTMG members and others whose personal data PTMG holds have the right to object to any processing based on legitimate interests or public interests.
If a member of PTMG no longer wishes to receive conference invitations or copies of Law, Lore & Practice they will be able to unsubscribe either via a link in the relevant email communication or by replying to that email to the effect that they no longer wish to subscribe.
If a member or other individual wishes to have personal data removed, thus exercising their right to be forgotten, PTMG will ensure that this is completed where appropriate.
Any requests to exercise any of these rights or any other rights which individuals may have should be sent to the PTMG Secretary as set out below.
Please be aware that these rights are not absolute and do not apply in all situations.
Responding to requests
PTMG will endeavour to respond to any data protection enquiries or requests within one week of receipt of request. If it will take longer than a month to respond, we will let you know.
Cookies on the PTMG website
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Contacting PTMG
If you have any query in respect of this data privacy policy or to data protection more generally please contact the Secretary, Lesley Edwards at Lesley@ptmg.org or write to her at PTMG, Tillingbourne House, 115 Gregories Road, Beaconsfield, Bucks, HP9 1HZ.
PTMG may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should therefore check this page periodically to ensure that you are happy with the changes. The last update was June 2018.
The Information Commissioner’s Office
If you have any concerns about how PTMG uses personal information, please contact the Secretary. You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office – ico.org.uk.