Friday fantasies

The IPKat's sidebar, as ever, is bulging with exciting opportunities to attend live talks, do a spot of networking and generally get out of the office or college routine for a bit and, well, live it up! There are plenty of events on offer, so don't forget to check them out.

There have been a few changes to the IPKat weblog of late. Following suggestions that the former colour scheme was (i) not particularly attractive or (ii) called to mind other IP blogs that share the same template (Spicy IP and SOLO IP, to name but two), the IPKat decided to go blue with some red and yellow trimmings. He likes it; Merpel wishes it were pink and purple. Another change is the addition of a blogroll that lists some of the other weblogs with which IPKat team member Jeremy is associated. Apart from one slight glitch, which is that the blogroll insists that Fashionista-at-Law last posted anything half a year ago, this feature seems to working tolerably well.

The IPKat's friend Professor Toshiko Takenaka is coming to London in December where she will give a talk on the differences between patent litigation in the United States and Japan. If you'd like to hear on on Tuesday 8 December, you can find the details here. Another of the IPKat's friends, trade mark guru and IP Finance blogger Neil J. Wilkof, will be giving a lunchtime talk in Central London a week later, on Tuesday 15 December. The subject will be the role played by trade secrets in business. The venue is still to be confirmed. Meanwhile, if you're thinking of coming, email Jeremy here and let him know; he'll send you the details when they materialise.


Here's something for patent-y people to play with. Finding patents that are identical to your own is all very well, but finding patents that aren't the same, yet somehow relevant, is more of a challenge. The good news is that now you can look for similar patents, using Xyggy.com.

MI5 and police oppose internet disconnections. The IPKat thanks Paul Jakma for this link to a fresh set of insights into the 'three strikes and you're out' debate. It seems that you more you think about the significance of people not having an online presence, the more problems spring up. Law is slow to change and tends these days to run along some distance behind the technologies it seeks to regulate -- while the rate of technological change rattles along merrily, as does the rate at which consumers, ever-younger and more sophisticated, explore and adopt those techno-changes.

Around the blogs. The JIPLP Blog is thrilled to have secured its first 50 email subscribers (now over 60, actually) within 24 hours of launch; as an interactive accompaniment to the Oxford University Press monthly Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, the blog has already added two new sidebar features: 'Articles in search of an author' and 'Authors in search of an article'. Meanwhile, the IPKat welcomes a new entrant to the IP blogosphere, Raymond Hegarty (left) of Intellectual Profit. A self-styled IP evangelist, Raymond's creed involves "deriving profit with IP management". Good luck, Raymond, we'll all be watching you ...

OHIM has been having fun ... and so has the IPKat, who has been pawing at the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market's "Hands off my design" teaching and games site. The thing he likes about it best is the lengthy disclaimer, which among other things reassures the reader that its contents are "not necessarily comprehensive, complete, accurate or up to date". Merpel says, I want to know if the student illustrated on the right is male or female ...

The IPKat has been hearing all about the evening events which Appleyard Lees has been running for almost a year now in sunny Manchester for part-qualified and recently-qualified patent and trade mark attorneys and IP solicitors. The formula consists of a brief lecture followed by an opportunity for socialising over food and drinks [The events are free and are open to everyone. The Kat's wondering who buys the booze ...]. So far, reports the Kat's mole, these events have had some excellent speakers from the EPO, UK IPO and the Bar. Now it seems the organisers are looking for volunteer speakers to step forward and offer their talents. If you fancy a shot at public speaking on an IP topic and enjoy socialising afterwards, or only want to be added to the mailing list for forthcoming events, email here.