Kat News and blog round-up

Tonight, as the clock strikes midnight, it is with not a little sadness that we say farewell to our three guest Kats for the first half of 2013: Stefano Barazza (who will be joining the team of authors of the PatLit weblog), Jeff John Roberts and Matthias Lamping. Good luck and all the best for the future! It has been fun to have you on board [Explanation for new readers: in addition to its regular blogging team, the IPKat and Merpel appoint three guest Kats to join the blog team for a non-renewable period of six months.  The IPKat is always interested in hearing from prospective guest Kats but he warns -- it can be tough!]. Stefano has asked me to convey a message to this blog's readers, thanking them for their suggestions, ideas and comments, from which he learned a great deal.

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Tomorrow is 1 July, the first day of the second half of the year and the day we welcome our three new guest Kats for the period 1 July to 31 December. They are, in no particular order:

• Laetitia Lagarde 
• Miri Frankel 
• Bertrand Sautier 

Two of the three -- Laetitia and Miri -- have quite a bit of blogging experience already; you may have encountered them on various IP blogs in the past. We hope that their combination of enthusiasm and experience will enrich the content of this weblog in coming months.

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Meanwhile, Birgit returns from her six-month Kat Sabbatical to resume her regular blogging functions. Welcome back, Birgit!

Taking Birgit's place in the Sabbatical seat is David Brophy, who will be recharging his blogging batteries ready to return next January.

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And now for something completely different: on your right and left you will see slightly refreshed versions of the logos of the IPKat and his crafty female friend Merpel. While we've always been very fond of the old ones, which have been around for more Kat-years than we can remember, the witty allusion to possessing the powers of a popular comic-strip super-hero has grown a bit aged and it's high time we gave the IPKat -- and Merpel -- a more independent identity. We hope that, once you've got used to their new kit, you'll take it to your hearts.

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The Kat's blog friends. Every few months this weblog lists, in no particular order, a number of IP flavoured weblogs with which members of the IPKat's blogging team are associated. If you've not yet come across them -- and many of our more recent readers probably have not -- we hope that you will find some merit in them:

The 1709 Blog, which caters for the copyright enthusiast and seeks to cover all aspects of copyright law and practice in all its rich and varied glory (http://the1709blog.blogspot.com/). As of today, this blog has 1,879 email subscribers and a searchable database of 1,460 items. It has a large and international team of contributors -- including Glastonbury Festival's Ben Challis, IPKat blogger Eleonora, Iona Silverman (Baker & McKenzie) and our man in Paris Asim Singh -- who are always pleased to learn and report on interesting and copyright developments from around the world.

The SPC Blog is a handy information source for anyone who is involved in the tiny but controversial and highly lucrative world of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) for pharmaceutical and plant protection patents, as well as other forms of patent term extension (http://thespcblog.blogspot.com/). As of today, this blog has 1,732 email subscribers, many of whom have enriched the content of this weblog with their comments and through the provision of information concerning SPCs. This blog contains 476 items, including English translations of some European national decisions that are not available elsewhere.

PatLit tackles patent dispute resolution topics -- principally litigation -- not just from the UK but from wherever interesting news and comments emerge. As of today this blog, whose contributors include Michael Thesen, Stefano Barazza, David Berry and Antonio Selas, has 1,243 email subscribers and a searchable database of 668 items.

IP Finance, which was launched in January 2008 in response to the UNCITRAL initiative on security interests in intangibles, touches that delicate interface between intellectual property and the world of finance, addressing securitisation, valuation, royalty rates, assessment of damages and the evolution of new business plans (http://ipfinance.blogspot.com/). As of today, this blog has 1,351 email subscribers and a searchable database of 1,021 items. Kats Neil and Jeremy write for this blog, which is also garnished with content from Mike Mireles and guest posts from (F)RAND expert Keith Mallinson (WiseHarbor).

Class 46, founded by friends of European trade mark organisation MARQUES and driven by a big team of international contributors, delivers trade mark and brand-related news and developments from across Europe (http://www.marques.org/class46/). As of today, this blog has exactly 3,400 email subscribers and a searchable database of 3,276 items -- mainly relating to European case law and office practice but with coverage of plenty of other themes too. Kats Jeremy and Birgit both contribute to this blog.

Class 99, founded by patent and trade mark attorney and blogmeister David Musker, is dedicated to design law and practice in the UK, in Europe and beyond (http://class-99.blogspot.com/). As of today, this blog -- which will soon become part of the MARQUES social media family along with Class 46 --  has 802 email subscribers and a searchable database of 476 items.

jiplp is the blog of the leading Oxford University Press monthly publication, The Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice (JIPLP), which IPKat team member Jeremy (http://jiplp.blogspot.com/) edits, with assistance from Eleonora. As of today, this blog has 806 email subscribers and a searchable database of 387 items. This blog's content includes Current Intelligence notes, book reviews, requests for articles on specific topics and occasional guidance as to how to write (or not to write) good IP articles.

Afro-IP (http://afro-ip.blogspot.com/), for which the blogmeister is Darren Olivier, deals with the IP scene in Africa. As of today, this blog has 756 email subscribers and a searchable database of 1,406 items. This blog, which offers the largest single searchable online source of recent African IP news, carries regular features by Kingsley Egbuonu on the current state of online information provision by national IP offices in Africa and how things have improved (or not) since his previous visit.

IPTango (http://iptango.blogspot.com/), which is a bilingual blog with contributions both in Spanish and English, covers the increasingly important developments for IP in Latin America. As of today, this blog has 479 email subscribers and a searchable database of 1,238 items. Like Afro-IP, IPTango is a major source of intellectual property information and comment in its increasingly important area of focus (just look at the global sporting events that are heading Brazil's way in the next few years).

Art & Artifice (http://aandalawblog.blogspot.com/). As of today, this international weblog, which includes Simone Blakeney, Rosie Burbidge, Rachel Buker, Angela Saltarelli and Elizabeth Emerson, has 436 email subscribers and a searchable database of 311 items. Its scope is broad enough to cover not merely intellectual property law but other areas of legal concern for artists and the art-driven industries.

Bringing up the tail is SOLO IP, which reflects some of the interests, and the anguish, of those who practise IP by themselves or in small groups, or who work in environments in which they are the only IP people (http://soloip.blogspot.com/). As of today, this blog -- which is driven by blogmeister Barbara Cookson (Filemot Technology Law Ltd), has 178 email subscribers and a searchable database of 273 items. This blog warmly invites expressions of interest from would-be bloggers (on which see 'Would you like to be an IP Blogger' below)

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Would you like to be an IP blogger? Most of the weblogs listed above are still hoping to recruit some fresh talent into their blogging teams, as well as to host more good guest items from occasional writers. If you (i) have something valuable to say about IP, (ii) have some experience of IP in one form or another and (iii) think that you may be able to turn your hand at blogging (or already have some experience), do email Jeremy here, attaching or linking to your CV, and explain why you think you might be a good blogger.

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Don't forget Twitter!  IPKat team member Jeremy drives the Kat's Twitter account @Ipkat.  Class 46 tweets as @marques_ip and the jiplp can be found tweeting merrily on @JIPLP.