WEDNESDAY SHORTS

1 It could be YOU ...

Did you put yourself forward to serve on any of the International Trademark Assocation committees for the 2006-2007 committee term? If so, you won't have long to wait to discover if you've been picked. INTA is sending out emails on Wednesday 28 September to all those lucky enough to have been chosen. Committee chair and vice chair appointments have already been announced and can be found here.


2 Tearing down the shrouds of secrecy

The IPKat found an item on law.com reporting that the Judicial Conference, the policy-making body of the US federal judiciary, has endorsed a sweeping rule change that will allow lawyers to cite unpublished opinions in federal appeals courts nationwide beginning in 2007. The citation rule change, if ratified by the Supreme Court and untouched by Congress, would end a practice that brought charges of a hidden, unaccountable system of justice against some of the nation's largest and most important appellate courts. The 2nd, 7th, 9th and federal circuits ban citation of unpublished opinions outright, while six other circuits discourage it.

The IPKat likes to see judicial opinions out in the open, where they can be read and contemplated by the public who - let it not be forgotten - are bound by the laws they pay the judges to interpret and therefore have a genuine interest in knowing what their loyal servants have been up to. Merpel adds, is there a copyright issue floating around here, by any chance?


3 Game theory and IP: you have been warned

Here's advance warning of a journey into the unknown. On Thursday 24 November IPKat co-blogmeister Jeremy is giving one of the lectures in the present Current Legal Problems series. The lecture, "How to Win at Monopoly: Applying Game Theory to the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights", will be held from 6-7pm in the Main Lecture Theatre, UCL Law Faculty, Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens, London WC1H 0EG. It scores one 1 CPD Hour for Bar Council and Law Society accreditation. Being a public lecture it is free of charge and no booking is necessary. See you there?

Above: the original UCL Jeremy: founder, philosopher and sage Jeremy Bentham

What is game theory? Find out here
Full programme for Current Legal Problems 2005-2006 here