Friday fantasies

Popular measure: Iranian crowds take
to the street to celebrate PCT ratification

Iran joins the PCT club.  By PCT Notification No. 204 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), a somewhat repetitively-titled media release from the IPKat's friends at the the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), this Kat learns that the Islamic Republic of Iran has deposited its instrument of ratification of the PCT which comes into effect, with regard to Iran, on 4 October 2013.  But ... this instrument of ratification contains a declaration that, under Article 64(5) of the PCT, Iran does not consider itself bound by Article 59. For the record, that's the bit that says

"Subject to Article 64(5), any dispute between two or more Contracting States concerning the interpretation or application of this Treaty or the Regulations, not settled by negotiation, may, by any one of the States concerned, be brought before the International Court of Justice by application in conformity with the Statute of the Court, unless the States concerned agree on some other method of settlement. The Contracting State bringing the dispute before the Court shall inform the International Bureau; the International Bureau shall bring the matter to the attention of the other Contracting States".

Around the weblogs.  The IPKat has received several missives from devotees of (i) the moral of (non)attribution, (ii) Harry Potter, (iii) JK Rowling and now, it seems, (iv) JK Galbraith, asking him what he thinks of the sudden and shocking revelation that when Ms Rowling launches a book under an assumed name, sales are sluggish until its true pedigree is revealed. Well, Mira Sundara Rajan pretty well says it all on the 1709 Blog here.  Fellow Kat Neil's post on the IP Finance blog on beating a patent troll by teaming up with a bigger troll is worth a look here.  Swiss litigation over Bodum's witty jibe against market leader NESPRESSO, lovingly crafted into a neat blogpost by our former colleague Mark Schweizer, can be found on Class 46 here (the Swiss and French came to quite different conclusions about the imagery displayed in the illustration on the left).  Finally, for those who enjoy rather different mysteries to the sort written by JK Rowling, this week's two SPC Blog posts on Portuguese angst as to how you count days make, er, mysterious reading here and here.

Plain packaging for
Scotch may have some
advantages ...

Scotland Plain Packaging - going it alone? This Kat is grateful to his old friend Gill Grassie (Brodies LLP) for news that, notwithstanding the UK Government's recent apparent U-turn on plain packaging for cigarettes and its decision not to proceed with legislation before the next general election on the basis that it wanted to monitor the Australia situation, the Scottish Government has indicated that it will go ahead with its own legislation on this. According to Scottish public health minister Michael Matheson, his government has indicated that it will now identify an appropriate timescale to introduce the relevant legislation. Although this controversial issue raises all sorts of questions, an important one is of how the proposition sits with EU/UK intellectual property laws and international IP treaties and obligations such as TRIPS. As it raises potential clashes with the IP regime that applies in the rest of the UK, there will be an interesting debate around whether it is an issue upon which the Scottish Government can legislate or whether it is currently reserved to Westminster. It will be important to follow developments here in Scotland on this as there are likely to be challenges made to any legislation which is sought to be introduced. The Australia precedent suggests that the introduction of plain packaging here will not be easy.

Giving jobs away!  One of this Kat's favourite academic institutions, the University of Edinburgh, is offering no fewer than three positions for intellectual property research assistants on the CREATe programme.  All three are part-time.  You can find lots of exciting details of CREATe here -- and even more exciting details of the positions here.  The important thing to note is that the closing date for applications is 5 pm (Scottish Summer Time) on 8 August 2013, Merpel's unimpressed.  Three positions, she mews! You'll find more in the Karma Sutra ...