Monday miscellany

"Meet the Bloggers!"  The annual International Trademark Association Meeting provides an excuse for intellectual property bloggers from all round the world, and even beyond, to come together for the purposes of (i) saying hello to one another, (ii) making themselves available to their readers and (iii) having a pleasant drink in congenial surroundings.  The IPKat is delighted to announce that next year's "Meet the Bloggers" session will take place on Monday, 12 May 2014, from 8-10 pm at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, thanks to the strenuous efforts of Katfriend Michael Lin, from the Hong Kong office of Marks & Clerk.  The IPKat and his friends will be reminding everyone a little nearer the date. In the meantime, Merpel joins the IPKat in saying a big "thank you!"

Ingve: with new,
improved spelling!

From Katfriend and European patent enthusiast Ingve Stjerna comes further news of his article on the "sub-sub-suboptimal compromise" of the EU Parliament, mentioned here.  Says Ingve, "I have just posted a revised version of the English article, (hopefully) removing some of the typos and grammatical flaws that I had obviously overlooked in the previous version; I have also updated the English verbatim protocol, now including references to the audio file, so that interested listeners can follow the original statements, in case they cannot believe what they read in the protocol. Again, thanks for spreading the word!"  It's the Kat's pleasure: to access the revised , updated and audio'd link just click here.

Shredding statutes ...

This Kat has learned with interest that it's not just unloved felines that get neutered: the same can happen to statutes too. It seems that the UK's little-loved and perhaps prematurely controversial Digital Economy Act is to have some of its powers snipped. That Act contained two provisions -- sections 17 and 18 -- which empowered the Secretary of State to make regulations about the granting by courts of injunctions requiring the blocking of websites that infringe copyright. However, under clause 26 of the draft Deregulation Bill, these provisions are to be repealed as being of what the ISP Review describes as "no longer of practical use".

Is IP to blame?

If you've been hearing strange scratching sounds recently, don't worry -- there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the phenomenon.  The pen of Katfriend Enrico Bonadio has been scrawling away busily of late, dashing off his chapter in a book edited by Tania Voon, Andrew Mitchell and Jonathan Liberman, Regulating Tobacco, Alcohol and Unhealthy Foods: The Legal Issues.  This forthcoming Routledge publication highlights the impact of a growing number of regulatory measures aimed at reducing the consumption of products that are harmful to people, such as tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods, on intellectual property regimes. The book also seeks to verify if and to what extent IP laws, and in particular patent procedures, may be amended with a view to incentivising companies to produce and market healthier products in the field of foodstuff and beverages.  Enrico's chapter can be read, thanks to the ever-useful SSRN, by clicking here.

"Asha": looks like a phone, sounds like a sneeze

The IP-laden deal between Microsoft and Nokia has received a considerable amount of publicity (see for example Mike Mireles' post on IP Finance here), what with the US software giant acquiring Nokia's Devices and Services business, and it has also attracted the attention of Ventsi Stoilov, our Katfriend from Sofia, Bulgaria. While the deal is worth about5.5 bn euros, he notes, a good chunk of that cash is accounted for by IP: around 3.79 bn euros were paid for Nokia's mobile phone and smart devices business, with around 1.65 bn for a ten-year licence to Nokia's patent portfolio. The trade mark side of the deal seems a bit of a side issue; Microsoft is acquiring the sub-brand ASHA [Merpel understands that ASHA is derived from the Sanskrit word for 'hope' though, in her opinion, 'hopeless' might be more appropriate], but the NOKIA brand will only be licensed, with control and management of the brand remaining in the hands of Nokia. Ventsi comments: "If I'm not mistaken, there will be no more big European smart phone manufacturers, taking into account the fact that Siemens gave up the business some time ago", adding that more information can be found here, hereand here.