Friday fling

As ever, the IPKat cordially invites you to peruse the list of upcoming events and activities. Freebies are in BLUE; things that aren't actually conferences, seminars etc are GREEN. Events supported by the IPKat are RED.

Here's a real treat for connoisseurs of (i) design law and (ii) patent office propaganda -- a delightful video from the Japanese Patent Office ("Design Rights: the more you know, the more you want to learn"). Many thanks to Annsley Merelle Ward (that's a person, not a law firm ...) for letting the Kats know about this, and the other videos in the series. 

Are you deeply concerned about IP securitisation and UNCITRAL's guidelines for it? If so, read this email from the UK's Intellectual Property Office, here.  Interested parties have just 14 days, inclusive of Easter, to think about and respond to some extremely important issues ahead of the New York conference later this month. 

Slightly embarrassed, this member of the IPKat team -- a keen admirer of Dennis Crouch's Patently-O US patent law weblog -- had long wondered about its name.  Was it perhaps "Patent Leo", a distant cousin of Afro Leo? Well, the mystery was cleared up for him earlier this week by Brian Kahin (Senior Fellow, CCIA) who popped in to see him on a visit to London.  The name is short for 'patently ... obvious'.

An amusing thought struck the IPKat this morning as he mewsed on yesterday's judgment of Mr Justice Floyd in Synthon v Merz (click here if you want to read why the case is important; click here if you want to know why it's interesting).  For most of the life of the Channel Tunnel we Brits have experienced the frustration of travelling on Eurostar trains that whizz around Continental Europe really quickly but chug along at a brisk walking speed once they've come through the tunnel and find themselves on English tracks.   Synthon v Merz is the other way round: it's a piece of UK patent litigation under the Patents Court's streamlined procedure which, having gone at a fair pace till now, faces the prospect of a slow crawl to Luxembourg and back in order to acquire the benefit of a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice.

It may seem strange, if not something of an oxymoron, for an intellectual property blog to rejoice in a name like Secular Citizen - The Crusader. But that's Mr R. S. Praveen Raj for you. His first post, "Trademark for Attukal deity: serious prejudice to religious freedom", can be read here. The IPKat awaits further developments.

At last, Own-It has a new website design -- and it's bright and fun to visit. For the uninitiated, Own-It offers

" ... IP advice and support for creative businesses. We offer a range of services, from basic to specialist support, through online and face-to face seminars, workshops and, where appropriate, surgeries with IP lawyers. We work with a network of IP advisers including lawyers and specialists at various trade associations associated with the creative industries in the UK. To register with Own-it and gain access to our services, click here.

Own-it is funded by the LDA [that's the London Development Agency] and the delivery partner is London College of Communication, part of the University of the Arts, London (UAL)".