Monday miscellany

Ever sensitive to cultural niceties, the EPO
always prefers the three-language solution

Thought for the day.  Following last week's Friday Fantasies item on the forthcoming European Patent Office event, "Search Matters 2014", an anonymous reader posted this comment:

"The percentage of applications filed in English and drafted by a native speaker is probably as low as the percentage of prior art documents written in English by a native speaker".

A sobering thought for those who assume that English is the national language of patent practice, or a comforting thought that, whatever the provenance and origin of patent applications and prior art documents, they are bound to encounter English at the point at which they become important and/or litigated?

Europe: if you think the beaches are hot,
just try the debate on copyright law reform ...

Copyright: another hot article in the pipeline. Friday Fantasies also pointed to the basic text of fellow Kat Eleonora Rosati's forthcoming article for JIPLP, "Copyright in the EU: in search of (in)flexibilities"; it seemed particularly appropriate to do so, since Europe is currently in foment over what, if anything to do about its increasingly buffeted copyright laws.  Another forthcoming JIPLP article is now available in draft on the jiplp weblog: it's "Why copyright and linking can tango" by Alexander Tsoutsanis. The decision to make this document available was taken in light of the revelation last week that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruling in Case C-466/12 Svensson [on the legal status of unauthorised hyperlinks] is to be delivered next Thursday, 13 February. Whether you agree with Alexander's analysis, totally disagree or couldn't care less, this piece is just too topical to be allowed to see the light of day only after the CJEU gives its ruling.


A bunch? A gaggle? A horde? Still on the same Friday Fantasies post, Merpel speculated as to what the collective term for a gathering of patent examiners might be.  Responses received so far include

• "My vote would be for a diligence of examiners!"
• "Collective noun for examiners? I'd suggest a confusion of examiners, except in the case of the USPTO where it would be a contusion of examiners".
• "I've no idea what might be the collective noun for patent examiners, and professional courtesy prevents me from offering any suggestions. However, I'm pretty sure that the collective noun for those on our side of the fence is 'a disagreement of patent attorneys'".

All further suggestions are warmly welcomed.

Around the weblogs."Italy: Consiglio di Stato reinstates original Pfizer Xalatan order" is the title of a fascinating guest post on The SPC Blog by Gian Paulo Di Santo (Pavia & Ansaldo, Milan) on the Consiglio Di Stato ruling on the legality of Pfizer's patent/SPC strategy for its Xalatan latanoprost product.  On the 1709 Blog, Ben Challis shows that it's not just English and Scottish publicans who end up in court when they use foreign satellite cards in order to show Premier League football matches: the Welsh get sued too. Art & Artifice carries the sad tale of a man who had the double misfortune of first buying a fake Chagall and then, on sending it for verification of its pedigree, being told that under French law his fake was destined to be destroyed. 

Nothing Toulouse ... From 30 March to 4 April 2014 there's a most tempting event in the offing for anyone who loves life as much as they enjoy their IP. It's "Lights on Paris: Intellectual Property and Cultural Policies in the Digital Age", organised by California Lawyers for the Arts and hosted in the Paris office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. There's an amazing programme, with much fun amid the serious stuff. Click here for further details. 

Will you be in Hong Kong this May? Are you a trade mark scholar?  The IPKat has it on good authority that the International Trademark Association (INTA) might just be willing to enlist another one or two additional people to present papers at the INTA Trademark Scholarship Symposium which takes place within the framework of this year's Annual Meeting in Hong Kong. If you are likely to be in Hong Kong this May, and would like to be considered, why not get in touch with Professor David Berry, here, and let him know.