Kats at INTA 5: Meet the Bloggers 2014

For some, the venue was
a long, long walk ...

"Meet the Bloggers" is more than a mere imperative: it's the name of one of the features of INTA week. "Meet the Blogger", or "MTB" as it is often affectionately abbreviated, is is not part of the official INTA programme. This means various things: (i) anyone can attend, even if they are not registered for INTA (not a bad idea,given that IP blogs cover lots of topics that have nothing to do with trade marks),(ii) INTA doesn't have to worry about insuring it against fire, theft, death by misadventure or catering malfunction and (iii) you are unlikely to receive continuing legal education points for turning up.

MTB: humble origins

MTB co-founder Marty Schwimmer (Leason Ellis) opened the formal side of the gathering by welcoming all present, reminding them of MTB's humble beginnings in a bar in San Diego and of its subsequent blossoming into a massively supported binge gathering of notables at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.  The beneficence of event hosts Marks & Clerk (correctly pronounced 'Clark') was warmly acknowledged, as was the contribution of all bloggers, readers and jolly wassailers to the blogosphere and this splendid social eruption from it. Marty then proceeded to stun all present with a carefully-worded articulation of his belief that the use of the Washington Redskins' controversial Redskins brand [see Wikipedia here for a handy summary of this controversy], considered by many people to be racist, should be dropped by its owners.  Marty urged all bloggers and tweeters present to draw to the attention of their respective readers a blogpost which he is currently planning (Marty's iconic Trademark Blog is here).

This Kat is happy to oblige once Marty's post goes live, though he doesn't entirely agree with Marty's position. Marty wants the Redskins mark to be renounced because it is racist, while this Kat's contention is that its owners should kiss it goodbye regardless whether it is offensive or not: assuming the brand was never intended to cause offence, its value of an asset has been deeply harmed by the perception on the part of a substantial segment of the public that it is racist -- and this Kat doubts whether the trade mark owner will ever be in a position to shift this misperception. Accordingly, it makes good commercial sense to start afresh with a rebrand.  He wonders whether readers agree with him or with Marty.

All that was left of this Kat's
taxi after the rain ...

Following Marty's plea, those present -- and there were many -- returned to the serious business of staying both sane and adequately hydrated.  Between the heat and the humidity many good folk were shipping water fast, and the air at times resonated with the sticky squelch of old friends embracing.  When eventually the curtain came down and the last revellers prepared to leave, the skies again opened, the rain plummeted to earth and Merpel had a chance to test out her hypothesis that many Hong Kong taxis are water-soluble since she attributes their tendency to vanish within minutes of a precipitation to the fact that they have been dissolved by the Special Administrative Region's acid rain.

This Kat would like to offer his thanks in particular to Marty for both the serious and the humorous dimensions to his oration, to Michael Lin and Richard Holmes of Marks & Clerk for their attention to detail in the organisation of the event and for their patent concern for the well-being of their guests, and to all the bloggers who made themselves accessible to their readers -- and to each other -- in an evening of fun, friendship, information exchange and see-you-next-years.