The IPKat and his blogging friends: a 2014 update

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. For the avoidance of doubt, this list only relates to IP blogs to which Kat team members contribute: it is not intended as an exhaustive list of intellectual property blogs, or of blogs that have received our personal blessing. That's why there are plenty of IP blogs that are not listed, even though we know about them, like them and often read them!

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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 (www.marques.org/class46/). As of today, this blog has no fewer than 3,679 email subscribers and a searchable database of 3,501 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, as does recent guest Kat Laetitia and former Kat Mark Schweizer.  

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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/). This weblog is now part of the MARQUES social media family along with Class 46. It has 747 email subscribers and a searchable database of 515 items.  

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Incidentally, Class 46 and Class 99 are just part of MARQUES's social media presence. Posts on both blogs are usually recorded on MARQUES's Twitter account at twitter.com/marques_ip and all sorts of items concerning trade marks, brands and designs are likely to end up on MARQUES's Facebook page at facebook.com/marques.ip. MARQUES also has a very busy and carefully moderated LinkedIn discussion group, with getting on for 2,800 members.

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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 (the1709blog.blogspot.com/). As of today, this blog has 2,001 email subscribers and a searchable database of 1,631 items. It has a large and international team of contributors: Glastonbury Festival's Ben Challis, IPKat bloggers Eleonora and Jeremy, John Enser (Olswang), Rebecca Giblin, Patrick Goold, Iona Silverman (Baker & McKenzie) and our man in Paris, Asim Singh. You can follow this blog (only a few month old and already followed by 361 people) on Twitter here.

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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 (thespcblog.blogspot.com/). As of today, this blog has 1,820  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 518 items, including English translations of some European national decisions that are not available elsewhere.  Incidentally, The SPC Blog organises an annual spring seminar, which is free to all comers and provides a great opportunity for pharma patent-owning companies, generics, private practitioners and patent office functionaries to get together and compare notes.

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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 1,291 email subscribers and a searchable database of 748 items.

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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 1,403 email subscribers and a searchable database of 1,088 items. Kats Neil and Jeremy write for this blog, which is also garnished with content from academics Mike Mireles, Andrea Tosato and (F)RAND expert Keith Mallinson (WiseHarbor).

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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 (jiplp.blogspot.com/) edits, with assistance from Deputy Editor Eleonora. As of today, this blog has 833 email subscribers and a searchable database of 443 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. There's an active and carefully moderated LinkedIn Group for JIPLP contributors and readers with nearly 150 members, which you can see here.  You can also follow this blog on Twitter here.

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Afro-IP (afro-ip.blogspot.com/), for which the blogmeister is Darren Olivier, deals with the IP scene in Africa. As of today, this blog has 792 email subscribers and a searchable database of 1,519 items. This blog, which offers the largest single searchable online source of recent African IP news, has recently added Caroline Ncube, Isaac Rutenberg and Chijioke Ifeoma Okorie to its blog-squad.  Afro-IP can be followed on Twitter here.

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IP Tango (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 494 email subscribers and a searchable database of 1,282 items. Like Afro-IP, IP Tango 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).

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Art & Artifice (www.artandartifice.net/). As of today, this international weblog, which includes Simone Blakeney, Rosie Burbidge, Rachel Buker, Angela Saltarelli and Elizabeth Emerson, has 488 email subscribers and a searchable database of 373 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. Art & Artifice recently launched a Twitter presence that is followed by 114 readers.

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Recently revitalised and picking up momentum 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 (soloip.blogspot.com/). As of today, this blog -- which is driven by blogmeister Barbara Cookson (Filemot Technology Law Ltd), has 206 email subscribers and a searchable database of 327 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.