Wednesday whimsies

Maybe not, but still 
highly worthwhile

It's not the last chance to register for this year's IP Publishers and Editors Meeting, but it might be the last time this Kat plugs it before it takes place next Wednesday, 25 November.  It's free, it's fun and it's a great time and place to network with colleagues and fraternise with the competition.  Getting on for 50 people have now signed up, which is pretty impressive.  Guest speaker Peter Groves is among the star attractions. For further details and registration just click here.

Around the weblogs 1. Ben Challis's most recent CopyKat round-up on the 1709 Blog has more on the US "Happy Birthday" litigation and an account of Taylor Swift's experience as a defendant in infringement proceedings brought by Jessie Braham. On the same blog, Marie-Andrée Weiss writes up a dramatic French moral rights decision involving an equally dramatic arrangement of Poulenc's "Dialogue des Carmélites".  On IP Finance Mike Mireles takes a clever look at Google's License on Transfer Network and asks whether it can be utilised against patent trolls.

Around the weblogs 2.  Mark Anderson's ever-useful IP Draughts turns its attention to common pitfalls in IP licensing: they are (i) wrong type of transaction, (ii) mismatch of expectations, (iii) wrong mindset for negotiating deal and (iv)  being locked into a long-term, loveless relationship.  If you want to list any further pitfalls, do post them on Mark's blog.  Aistemos asks whether the terms "disruptive innovation" and "disruptive technology" are a help or a hindrance to current innovation and investment analyses, and also takes a look at the distribution and ownership of aquaculture patents in today's herding catfish post. Latest European Patent Office-related blogposts: FOSS Patents, here; Techrights, here. The EPO Blog itself reports on a successful start for PCT Direct.

Nathan the Wise? He will be -- with your help.  This Kat has been informed that Nathan Pennington, secretary of the Patent & Trade Mark Group, is preparing an MSc dissertation on the differences and similarities of approach to searching patent by professional searchers and patent attorneys. He is seeking volunteers to (i) complete a questionnaire to measure legal and technical background; (ii) do a quick pseudo search on PatBase, or another database if you prefer, so he can log the search approach.  All data collected will be anonymous and no personal data will be collected as part of the exercise. If you'd like to volunteer, you can contact Nathan on +44 (0)20 7440 9510 or email him at npennington@eip.com. Do help if you can!