Monday miscellany

"How to Write an Effective IP Press Release". There's a choice of two dates for this IPKat seminar -- Tuesday 7 September 2010 (hosted by Collyer Bristow) and Tuesday 5 October (hosted by Olswang LLP). Full details can be found here. The 7 September seminar is nearly up to capacity, but there are still several spaces left for the 5 October one. See you there?


The most recent issue of the excellent online journal scripted has now appeared. You can see it here. This is a special stem cell issue, but there's a real treat too for IP fans who enjoy zombies. Great stuff, says the IPKat. Also just out is issue 4 for 2010 of the WIPO Magazine, for those who like some easy-to-read, IP-positive material. You can view the contents of this issue here. Of particular interest, this Kat thought, was this piece by Australian WIPO Indigenous IP Law Fellow Patricia Adjei, asking whether there is still a place for customary law in the protection of traditional knowledge.

Have you ever had a craving to write one of these truly annoying but subconsciously tempting email begging/fraud letters that flood our spam boxes? If so, there's a competition here on the IP Finance weblog here that might appeal to you. The first few entries have already arrived and, from their very high standard, it may be wondered whether some of our brethren intellectual property owners and practitioners who fall on hard times might just have a promising career ahead of them. The competition prize is free admission to the IP and Finance conference on 20 October -- plus a tasty (non-Spam) lunch.

The IPKat's weblog has been nominated for Law Actually's 2010 Blawggies here, in the "Best Legal Commentary" category. The Kat makes no comment on the fact that the internet bears traces of more than one set of Blawggies (see Dennis Kennedy's Blawggies here, for instance) and that Blawggies are presumably quite different from the Bloggies, here. How confusing for a furry feline!

The IPKat has been stalking a recent referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union of a set of questions to which the answers could significantly change the way that the lists of goods and services specified in trade mark registrations are interpreted (see earlier posts here and here). Regarding this case, MARQUES member David Stone (Simmons & Simmons) reminds owners of trade marks in Europe -- particular Community trade marks and national rights in Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Romania -- that they should check right now to ensure that their specifications accurately cover the goods and services in relation to which the mark is used. This, says David, is particularly important for those offering retail services. Changes to existing registrations should be made now: once the Court of Justice has ruled, it may be too late. You can see David's note on elexica here.