Monday Miscellany

Starting the week with the right paw the IPKat brings you news of exciting IP-related events to be soon held around the world. Since it is Monday morning, this sleepy Kat will start from the closest to its doorstep...

First stop - Brussels:  The Liège Competition and Innovation Institute at the Université de Liège (LCII) together with the Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) will host the Conference on Innovation, Research and Competition in the EU: The Future of Open and Collaborative Standard Setting on 29-30 May in Brussels. Public officials, industry experts, legal practitioners and prominent academics from EU institutions, the private sector and academia will gather to discuss SEP-related questions at the intersection of IP and competition law. The full programme of the event can be found here. Admission fee is €150 or €75 (academics and public officials), + 21% VAT. Registration closes on 25 May 2017 and can be done here.

London calling:  On the other side of the Channel, the Competition Law Association (CLA) will host the lunchtime event Flynn Pharma and Pfizer: the IP and competition aspects of Phenytoin Sodium Flynn on 7 July 2017 at the Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP offices in London. The speakers of the event will be James Killick (White & Case, Brussels) and Michael Silverleaf (Barrister, 11 South Square). Attendance is free for CLA members, for non-members an enrolment fee of £50, £35 (full time academics/public sector employees) or £10 (students, trainees, pupil barristers) is applied. Registration closes on 6 July 2017 and can be done here and here (members).

Are Non-Traditional Trademarks Aesthetically Functional? Professor Irene Calboli (Singapore Management University) will address this question at a seminar hosted by the City Law School in Central London on 12 June 2017. In the course of the seminar, she will discuss the problems arising from the protection of those trade marks in, inter alia, the United States and Singapore, by examining first the legal developments in this area and then recent controversial court cases. In this context she will address the doctrine of functionality, adopted by some courts. Attendance to the event is free but booking is required. Places can be booked here.

Did someone just call me a copycat?

Tomorrow, 23 May 2017, in the framework of the Clerkenwell Design Week, the City Law School together with Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN), will host the workshop Combat the Copycats, an event aimed at designers interested in getting acquainted with IP rights relevant for their work and how to combat infringement. Attendance to the event is free but booking is required. Places can be booked here.

Bem Vindo ao Brazil:  Crossing the Atlantic, the Ligue Internationale du Droit de la Concurrence/International League for Competition Law (LIDC) will host its Congress in Rio de Janeiro on 5-8 October 2017. The Congress focuses on topical areas of competition and IP law and features panels and speakers covering a wide range of subjects. This year's programme will cover two questions: (A) what are the major competition/anti-trust issues generated by the growth of online sales platforms and how should they be resolved; and (B) to what extent current exclusions and limitations to copyright strike a fair balance between the rights of owners and fair use by private individuals and others. Registration prices vary, enrollment until 30 June 2017 gives access to early bird fees. Registration can be done here.

Back to Blighty:  Building up to the LIDC Brazilian event, the Competition Law Association (CLA), member association of the LIDC, will host a Workshop on 13 June 2017 at Redd Solicitors LLP in London  to discuss the Congress' two central questions. The discussion will be based on the UK national reports drafted by Vineet Budhiraja (Watson Farley & Williams LLP) and Kat Eleonora Rosati (University of Southampton). Attendance is free for CLA members, for non-members an enrollment fee of £50, £35 (full time academics/public sector employees) or £10 (students, trainees, pupil barristers) is applied. Online registration closes on 12 July 2017 and can be done here and here (members).

Ending up in Israel:  Looking to the shores of the Mediterranean, the University of Haifa in collaboration with the National Cyber Bureau established The Center for Cyber, Law and Policy (CCLP). The Center seeks to develop the academic research necessary to inform public policy while addressing cyber challenges by integrating legal research, computer science, data science, social science and innovative technologies. The CCLP will support selected research proposals related to cyber policy challenges. Applications should be sent by 1 June 2017 at cyber@univ.haifa.ac.il. The full list of research themes and additional information on the Center can be found here.