Friday filigree

Do please check the IPKat's lovingly updated 'Forthcoming Events' feature, which you will find in the left-hand side-bar of this weblog's front page. It contains some fresh entries which you may not yet have seen.


New blog on the block. Startup Meme, which traces its origins back to 2007, was resuscitated May 2008 with a dedicated team of 4 bloggers (Bilal Hameed, Mohkim Khan, Shoaib Hashmi, Asma Kaleem with the occasional assist from Imran Hussain). Startup Meme is dedicated to reviewing Internet startups, as well as profiling existing companies that are working hard to make gadgets/services more usable for the rest of us. The IPKat says, "good luck!"


Meanwhile the IPKat mourns the loss of a sister blog, the Patry Copyright Blog, following the decision of his friend, scholar and sincerely committed enthusiast Bill Patry to hang up his blogging boots. In his blogicide note, Bill cites two main reasons: (i) the inability of so many people to accept the truth that this truly was a truly independent blog and not merely the mouthpiece of Bill's employer Google and (ii) the currently depressing state of copyright law.

Left: The Blog That Roared ... This is the portrait of Bill that accompanied his profile in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, on whose editorial panel he now sits.

The IPKat says, you should never give two excuses/explanations for one decision: it suggests that neither was sufficient by itself. As it is, explanation (i) should be sufficient for anyone -- being wilfully tarred with the epithet of cypher for another is a cruel and ultimately futile activity (imagine how Anthony Trollope would feel if the public kept reading his novels for signs that he was promoting the policy of his employer, the Post Office). The IPKat is unwilling, however, to accept explanation (ii) because he is still young and immature to believe that the copyright-based industries engage in a relationship with competitors and consumers that is a veritable troika of thesis, antithesis and synthesis: the darkest hour for copyright signifies its next dawn. So, Bill, if you are ever returning to the blogosphere, it'll be great to have you back!


Australia, Nick Weston tells the IPKat, has just appointed a new Chief Justice of the High Court, Justice Robert Shenton French. In a previous life, he (i.e. French) was an IP lawyer. Nick commends to the readers of this weblog an amusing speech which he delivered to the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (WA Chapter) Annual Dinner back in 2006. You can pick up the full text from Nick's blog here.

Right: all Australian judges must now undergo rigorous humour training prior to their appointment

The IPKat's verdict: it's good to see a judge delivering humour but, if precedents are anything to go by, he should stick to his day job. Merpel says, Nick's blog has an indescribably long name and should be renamed "IP-Platypus" before someone else takes it.