Back to school: is Downing worth a punt?

VIP: very
important punter?

The IPKat is asked from time to time if there's anything exciting for IP enthusiasts to do in the summer. The answer is yes -- they can go back to school. IBC Legal's 11th annual Intellectual Property Law Summer School takes place from 15 to 19 August in the pleasant and discreetly aristocratic surroundings of Downing College, Cambridge [that's the English Cambridge, notes Merpel, not the Massachusetts one]. If you fancy taking a punt, the Summer School's website is here.  The IPKat is pleased to tell readers that if they reserve a place by 15 July they can save up to £600 -- with an additional saving of 25% if they book here and quote VIP [Very Important Pussykat?] Code KW8138IPKE. The booking fee includes accommodation and meals and what the organisers describe as "a range of [unspecified] fun evening activities"

The school opens with a Basics Day which, as its name subtly suggests, covers the basics.  IPKat team member Jeremy will be speaking on this day -- which you can attend on its own, without having to register for the whole week, if you just want the fun bits and a chance to collect some business cards, sit on the lawn and sip a few Pimmses.

Genetically modified
triffids: are they really
patentable? 

Once the basics are out of the way the syllabus tackles, in the following sequence, a Patents Day ("focus on international patent law and principles, including Patents in China and breakout sessions on software patentability and developments in biotech & pharma"), Transactions & Enforcement Day ("including IP Licensing, portfolio management, due diligence, trade secrets, enforcement, customs and anti-counterfeiting"), Trade Marks & Designs Day (covers the foundations and latest trends and occurrences in trade marks, plus mock arbitration [this day carries an 'interactive sessions' warning]) and the Copyright Day ("a lively and thorough overview of applicable law and jurisdiction and an analysis of current topics in this fast-moving area of IP").

For those readers who worry about education overload, the two days that follow are the weekend, so you can crash out if you want -- or prudently take the opportunity to revise your notes while the course is still fresh in your memory ...

Due diligence has
never been so much fun!

There's a huge cast of respected and seasoned IP speakers, drawn from the ranks of leading firms and with the additional attraction of the IPKat's friend and copyright sage Professor Adrian Sterling (Queen Mary, University of London).  And if a single day of copyright isn't going to quench your thirst for the subject, you can always enrol in IBC Informa's Postgraduate Diploma/Masters in UK, EU & US Copyright Law by Distance Learning, King's College London (quoting VIP Code KW1048IPKL), in which Adrian teams up with a bevy of big name copyright thinkers, led by Professor Tanya Aplin).