Wednesday whimsies

Telecom Tubbies? No, not at all: "Patents in Telecoms" is a lean, mean conference where the organisers can confidently state: "Most key players will be there in audience if not as speakers". The event is masterminded by the UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law, George Washington University’s Faculty of Law, GSMA, ITU and ETSI and it takes place on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 November 2015 in Washington D.C. Expect contributions from Professor Sir Robin Jacob (UCL Laws), Antoine Dore (ITU), Michael Loch (GSMA), Christian Loyau (ETSI) and Professor Marty Adelman (George Washington University). There's also a 15% discount code for readers of this weblog who register: just quote ipkat–15.  The conference website for the programme and booking details can be accessed by clicking here.


Books for review.  Last week the jiplp weblog posted an invitation to review various IP titled for publication in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (JIPLP), Oxford University Press's flagship journal. Inconceivably and without precedent, not all of the titles were snapped up: three were left on the shelf, so to speak. The IPKat is offering them here.  They are:

Title: Innovation & IP: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa
Editors: J de Beer and others
Publishers: UCT Press

"In the global knowledge economy, intellectual property rights - and the innovations they are meant to spur - are important determinants of progress. But what does this mean for the nations of Africa? One view is that strong IP protection can facilitate innovation in African settings. Others say that existing IP systems are simply not suited to the realities of Africa. This book, based on case studies and evidence collected across nine countries in Africa sheds new light on the complex relationships between innovation and intellectual property. It covers findings across many sites of innovation and creativity, including music, leather goods, textiles, cocoal, coffee, auto parts, traditional medicine, book publishing, biofuels and university research, and presents a picture in which innovators share a common appreciation for collaboration and openness".

[Katnote: this title is a bit old now, but not that many IP titles come out of Africa, and it's important not to marginalise IP scholarship from this vast and increasingly important part of the world] Further information concerning this title can be obtained from the book's website here

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Title: IP and Other Things: A Collection of Essays and Speeches

Author: Robin Jacob 
Publisher: Hart/Bloomsbury

The Rt Hon Professor Sir Robin Jacob has been variously a leading member of the Intellectual Property Bar, a High Court judge and, as Lord Justice Jacob, a judge in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. His primary area of expertise is intellectual property (IP) rights. He chose to leave the Court of Appeal in March 2011 to take up his current position as the Sir Hugh Laddie Chair in intellectual property at University College London. He still sits occasionally in the Court of Appeal and is a door tenant at 8 New Square. These essays, selected from his published and unpublished writings and lectures, illustrate the breadth of his learning in IP and other matters. They are written in typically straightforward and entertaining style and, in the case of the older essays, a commentary of what has happened since they were first published. They will be of interest to any lawyer, law student or scholar interested in the development of IP law in the past quarter century.

[Katnote: don't be afraid to review this title: we are sure that the author won't mind a bit of criticism ...] Further information concerning this title can be obtained from the book's website

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Title: A-Book: How to draft claims and the introductory part of a patent application and pass Paper A of the European Qualifying Examination

Author: Erich Waeckerlin

Publisher: Carl Heymanns Verlag

Das englischsprachige Werk dient insbesondere Patentanwaltskandidaten zur Vorbereitung auf den Prüfungsteil A (patent application / Anmeldeverfahren) der Europäische Eignungsprüfung.

Nach einer ersten allgemeinen Einführung wird in einem speziellen Abschnitt das Patentanmeldeverfahren, jeweils mit Hinweisen auf die Besonderheiten in Mechanik und Chemie, erörtert. Im Anhang werden Musterlösungen in allen drei Amtssprachen (DE, FR, EN) je für Mechanik und Chemie dargestellt.

Die Musterlösungen enthalten eine systematisierte Zusammenstellung der häufigsten Fehler mit Gegenüberstellung der zutreffenden Lösung.

[Katnote: this title will be ideal for anyone anxious about passing Paper A ...] Further information concerning this title can be obtained from the book's website

If you'd like to review one, just email Sarah Harris at sarah.harris@oup.com by not later than Friday evening; if you've not yet reviewed a title for JIPLP, can you please either attach a CV or explain to us why you believe that you are qualified to review the book that you have asked to review?  And remember: if you are unable to deliver the review within a short but reasonable time of receiving the book, you will be asked to return it so that it can be reviewed by someone else -- and you may not be invited to review any further books.  

Easy Sanitary Solutions.  No, the IPKat isn't going into the plumbing business: it's just that his attention has been attracted to another design protection matter that is now heading to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling, Case C-361/15 P - Easy Sanitary Solutions BV v Group Nivelles.  This is an appeal against the General Court's ruling in Case T-15/13 on the assessment of the novelty of a later design [critically noted by Brinkhof's Gerben Hartman in a guest Katpost here].  If you aren't truly excited by European design law, you have almost certainly stopped reading this item by now. If however you are a true enthusiast, you will be trembling with anticipation at the prospect of being able to advise the UK government as to whether it should also be getting excited and therefore get involved. If that's your plan, just email policy@ipo.gov.uk by 28 October 2015. and tell them the IPKat sent you.