Wednesday whimsies

Pill poll,
please vote

If you are fascinated by supplementary protection certificates for patents, paediatric extensions and other ways of keeping patent protection going even beyond its normal lifespan, you probably know that The SPC Blog holds an annual seminar. What you may not know is that the blog is soliciting the preferences of its readers -- and there's an absurdly large number of them -- as to roughly when they'd like the seminar to take place. If you want to register your preference, click here for the blogsite: the poll is perched at the top of the sidebar.

The new PCC:
will it be even
more informal?

Starting yesterday, patent litigation weblog PatLit began a regular weekly series on the operation and progress of the recently-revamped Patents County Court for England and Wales.  The PCC Page, supplied by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), is intended to help popularise the Court's new jurisdiction and rules, also making it easier for litigants and their advisers to follow the new scheme of things. As cases pass through the PCC, lessons learned from their progress will be explained, so that we can all learn from their experience.

Puff the magic Marley

There's not much there at the moment, but a bright future is predicted for IP in the Caribbean, a new (if descriptively titled) weblog piloted by Eddy Ventose.  The IPKat predicts plenty on Bob Marley -- who since his death has been a regular subject of IP litigation of one sort of another.  By curious coincidence, his first two posts are on Marley and Marlboro (no relation, though both are something to do with smoking, Merpel says).  Anyway, the Kats wish Eddy the best of luck and hope that all readers with Caribbean IP info to spare will remember to share it with him.

"Close that frontier!"

That splendidly articulate orator, thinker, practitioner and good friend of the IPKat Robert Carolina is speaking at the London School of Economics next Tuesday, 19 October as part of a gratifyingly free series on staying safe online. Rob's subject -- Closing of the Cyberspace Frontier and personal responsibility -- is not a 100% intellectual property subject, but it's one which no-one who is involved with online IP matters can afford to ignore.  Details are here.  Having chaired Robert on various occasions the Kat can confidently say, go and hear him, sit at his feet.  You won't be disappointed!

This year's Stephen Stewart Lecture details have only been announced, with less than a fortnight to go. The speaker is a huge coup for the Intellectual Property Institute, which holds this event annually to celebrate the life and remember the contribution of Stephen, one of its most colourful figures. Delivering the lecture -- which hasn't been given a title, which adds to its charm -- is Microsoft Corporation's Horacio E. Gutiérrez. The date, Thursday Monday 25 October 2010; the venue, the lovely premises occupied by the London office of international legal presence Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, 65 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1HT. Registration begins at 5pm for a 6pm start. There is no charge, but [as with Microsoft software, says Merpel] you have to register. Just email the IPI here, giving (i) your full name, (ii) your affiliation, title and/or university/programme and (iii) your email address [hang on, says Merpel, if you email the IPI from your email address, won't they have it already?] -- and don't forget to say the IPKat sent you!

Intellectual property litigators, and those on whose half their gallantly toil, will be delighted to know that the Fulbright & Jaworski 2010 Litigation Trends Survey is now available. Annually, hundreds of corporate counsel participate in this Litigation Trends survey and offer valuable perspectives as to how they view the world of litigation. The majority of respondents report they expect litigation to continue at the same pace or even increase in the coming year. PatLit has filleted out the bit that is patent-specific (here), but there's plenty more information for the interested reader. Anyone who would like to see the full 64-page report can access it by clicking here and completing the registration procedure.  There are also hundreds of pages of raw data for the real enthusiast.

Who needs Alicante when
you've got Newport?

So many people have kindly sent the IPKat this link to Newport State of Mind that he has taken the almost unprecedented step of relenting and agreeing to post it.  Yes, it does have some relevance to intellectual property (see here). No, it is not a recruitment video for the UK's Intellectual Property Office. Yes, it is rather more enjoyable in some folks' eyes/ears than the original, Empire State of Mind.  No, the owners of the copyright of the original work of which this was a parody weren't very happy about it -- and yes, it's still on YouTube despite apparently having been pulled down.  Happy now?