Friday Fantasies

IPKat is here with your weekly update of IP news and events! This week we have news of the ratification of the Hague Agreement by the UK, a new IP inclusive group and a number of seminars and events on copyright reform. 

UK ratifies the Hague Agreement

The UK has ratified the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The agreement will come into force on 13th June 2018. Since 2008, it has been possible to achieve design protection for the UK through the Hague system via the EU’s membership. UK ratification of the Hague Agreement will allow access to the UK as a contracting party in its own right.  

Changes in New Zealand

Amendments to the New Zealand Patent, Design and Trade Mark Regulations have recently been notified. The amendments include changes to micro-organism deposit requirements for patent applications and changes to the extension of time provisions for filing a counter-statement in patent revocation proceedings. See the recent statement on the changes from the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office for further details. 

IP Inclusive

Last month Baker McKenzie hosted IP & ME’s inaugural event, which went ahead in defiance of "The Beast from the East". The theme of the event was Chinese New Year and the speakers were Jenny He (IBM) and Gabriel Goh (Taylor Wessing). Attendees learned about Chinese New Year and how it is observed by businesses in China and other countries. 

Maneki Neko

Next month will see the launch of IP Inclusive's new initiative Careers In Ideas. The launch party will be held at the Royal Society of Medicine on Tuesday 10th April 2018. See more details on the IP Inclusive Blog. Careers in Ideas aims to raise awareness of all types of jobs within the IP sector, from those suitable for school-leavers to those that require further education. 

IP Strategy Survey

AISTEMOS is a London based IP data analytics company. They are currently conducting a survey on IP strategy, focusing on the impact of disruptive technologies, such as blockchain and AI, on the attitudes to IP within organisations. See here to participate in the survey. AISTEMOS's report on their IP strategy survey last year can be found here. 

The IV Edition of More Than Just A Game (MTJFG) will focus on Culture, Identities, Freedoms & Artificial Intelligence, and will be held on Thursday 5th to Friday 6th April 2018 at Ironmongers Hall, Shaftesbury Place, London EC2Y 8AA. The focus will be on the impact of "AI and Immersive Technologies on Interactive Entertainment and our Culture, Identities and Freedoms". During the two days of the conference, leading international academics, publishers, lawyers, industry experts and policymakers will discuss a wide range of legal and regulatory topics, including Intellectual Property Law, Technology, Content & Communities Regulation, Data Protection and Privacy, E-sports and Streaming, Monetisation Regulation and Loot Boxes. The full programme and registration can be found here. 

EU copyright reform

Geo-blocking is the practice of restricting or denying access to certain services or content outside a specified territory. As part of the Digital Single Market Strategy, the Council of the European Union recently adopted the EU Anti-Geoblocking Regulation, now published. See more on the history of the EU's approach to geo-blocking here, here and here.

COMMUNIA is an EU project with the stated aim of advocating "for policies that expand the public domain and increase access to and reuse of culture and knowledge". Next week COMMUNIA is organizing a series of European Copyright Action Days in Brussels, in order to highlight "the broad opposition of civil society, libraries, the users, industry and many others concerning the restrictive aspects of the copyright reform proposal [Copyright in the Digital Single Market Proposal]" (Kat post here). Full details of the planned events can be found here. 

In the library

If you want to learn more about the issues involved in copyright reform, The City Law School is hosting a free seminar: Exceptions, Institutional Uses and the Construction of Copyright Norms, on the evening of 6th April 2018. The seminar will focus on one of the most controversial areas of EU copyright reform: the use of works in institutions such as libraries, museums, archives or schools. The speaker is Professor Guido Westkamp from Queen Mary University. See here for full details and registration. 

There will be another free seminar at The City Law School on 20th March 2018 on Derivative Works in Copyright and Improvement Inventions in Patent Law. The seminar will particularly focus on comparing the different approaches of copyright and patent law  to second-generation creators and inventors. Would a patent-like approach to copyright help promote creativity for the public benefit? The speaker is Professor Maurizio Borghi from Bournemouth University. More information can be found here. 

WIPO roving seminar series

The WIPO roving seminar series continues. There will be a free Slovenian Roving Seminar on WIPO services in Ljubljana on 27th March 2018. The event and materials will be in both English and Slovenian. Additional information, such as the seminar’s programme and a link to the registration page, can be found here. 

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Author: Rose Hughes