Monday miscellany

Philanthropy and intellectual property: are you kidding? No, it's no joke at all. "Philanthropy and intellectual property" is the title of a forthcoming conference, hosted by the University of Geneva and taking place on Friday 13 March 2015.  Chaired by author, scholar and Katfriend Jacques de Werra, this is one of a series of "Philanthropy and ..." events scheduled during the course of this academic year. To give you a flavour of it:

... a panel of experts coming from leading institutions (including international organizations, research foundations and the pharmaceutical industry) will discuss the topic of philanthropy and intellectual property from the perspective of access to drugs for developing countries: how can intellectual property (in particular patents) be used for a philanthropic purpose ? Presentations by the panellists will be followed by a debate and a discussion on various aspects of this challenging topic, such as trends and good practices.

Registration [by Tuesday 3 March, so don't leave it too late] and programme details can be found here. A paper on philanthropy, IP and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, published in the WIPO Magazine, can be read here; it will form part of the event's discussion materials.

United States opens up to foreign design protection: are you kidding?  Well, not as such, says Merpel, who has read the recent WIPO media release "United States of America, Japan Join International Design System" with interest and some uncertainty as to what it all means. She has a rough notion of what it is that the Hague System for the international registration of industrial designs can do, but she also seems to recall that the United States has a very sui generis design patent system that generally doesn't seem to protect designs very much at all. She also seems to recall speaking to US attorneys who don't seem particularly happy with the principle that design should be protected at all, particularly in the fashion sector.  She hopes that someone will put her right. Meanwhile she's sure that design protection in Japan must be really straightforward, since the Japanese Patent Office has such a helpful flow chart for it.

ECTA Round Table. This Kat's friends in the European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA) are holding a Round Table in Alicante next week, on 26 February to be precise, with the appealing [if you are into trade marks in the EU] title "Re-filing: Trick or Treat?". This event will focus on the OHIM Community trade mark opposition decision in CANAL + v KABLEPLUS of 13 February 2014, where an opponent was put to proof of use of a mark which was not the basis of his opposition. Katfriend Claire Lazenby is in the chair, and a stunning cast consisting of Detlef Schennen (Head, 4th Board of Appeal) Dimitris Botis (OHIM Deputy Director for Legal Affairs), Anette Rasmussen (Vice-chair of the ECTA OHIM Link Committee) and Fabio Angelini (Chair of the ECTA Law Committee, member of the OHIM Link Committee, gentleman and superstar) will be in action. Click here for programme details and registration.

Around the weblogs.  Here's one that this Kat has only just come across: it's called Plant Variety Protection ("discussing, sharing and advancing research"), but you will find that there's a lot more to it than that. If you like plant variety, pasta and gender equality, do tell Viola -- she'll be delighted to hear from you.  If you like cat varieties, or at least varieties of cat's paws, Michael Factor's post here on the IP Factor may be more to your taste.  On IP Finance Keith Mallinson writes on the EU's consultation on open standards on patents, while the 1709 Blog has been buzzing with new posts, most recent of which is guest Kat Valentina's take on the Holly/Hepburn right of publicity spat with Caleffi, here. Finally, on the SOLO IP blog, Barbara Cookson trials the new Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys website.