Wednesday whimsies

When Merpel confessed her fear of being lost in IKEA (see earlier item here), blog reader and Katfriend Pam Chestek kindly reassured her that she would not be alone. Connoisseurs of the Cat-meets-IKEA marketing ploy will appreciate the links which Pam has kindly supplied here and here.  Merpel adds, on the subject of IKEA: the Kat's recent post reported on the blatant emulation of Apple and IKEA store interiors and product ranges in China. She now learns from a friend currently living in that large and mysterious land that it is no longer possible for its inhabitants to access this weblog.  This is (so far as Merpel knows) the second time this blog has been cut off by the Chinese authorities.  She believes however that it is more important to report the truth than to acquiesce in behaviour in China which she would equally criticise if it occurred in her own country, or indeed any other.


If you haven't yet registered for the forthcoming IPKat-supported seminar on Initial Interest Confusion on 7 September, you're nearly too late. We're up to 62 registrants now and the hard-pressed staff at Hardwicke warn that we've nearly reached capacity.  So if you want to hear some excellent speakers, eat a delicious lunch and get an unobstructed view of the cuddly Mark Engelman as he holds forth on "Initial Interest Confusion: what does it mean for keywords and Google France?", book now -- or risk disappointment!

Around the weblogs.  The jiplp blog announces the publication of the September issue of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, and you can read its editorial here on the delicate question of how we pay for the free or heavily subsidised intellectual property on which so many of us rely.  Art & Artifice has a splendid selection of "handbag + fashion" limericks, all beginning with the line "A stylish young model from France ..."  The 1709 Blog offers copyright problem-solvers a knotty problem regarding the legal status of some old correspondence here.  For patent litigators, PatLit's PCC Page this week reviews the issues arising from the apparently simple task of getting a defendant who is accused of infringement to give a proper product description.

The IPKat salutes his friend and fellow blogger Mark Anderson.  In May his firm was awarded the title of "Life Sciences Law Firm of the Year, England" by Finance Monthly magazine, and now he has personally won the accolade "UK Life Sciences Lawyer of the Year" in the Corporate INTL Global Awards for 2011.  Says the Kat, apart from being a nice guy Mark has been a tireless and enthusiastic promoter of the positive side of IP exploitation and is a great asset to the IP environment as a whole. Well done!