Tuesday Tweets

IPKat brings plenty of exciting IP news right to your doorstep! Enjoy a weekly roundup of forthcoming events, educational initiatives, calls for papers and more!

Education

A new Joint Master’s Degree Programme in Intellectual Property and New Technologies is being organised by the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO Academy) and the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, with participation of IP specialist from the European IP centres, as well as specialists from the sector of new technologies. The curriculum will be structured in three-semester study between 1st October 2018 and 28th February 2020. Learn more about the programme here.

Events

The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys Life Sciences Conference this year will take place at De Vere Tortworth Court, Wotton-under-Edge on the 8-9th November 2018. Patent and IP professionals active in the pharma, medical technology and biotechnology sectors are invited to join the presentations and panel sessions on UK, EPO, Canada and US law updates, Oppositions at the EPO - Impact of the Recent Changes, Current Status of Litigation in Europe, SPCs and Devices, Life Sciences Beyond Therapeutics, Scientific Presentation, and others. Full programme may be found here. 

The 28th Kuhen & Wacker European Intellectual Property Seminar will be held in K&W offices in Freising, Germany, on 7-12th October 2018. Seminar programme features talks and discussions on international patent litigation, IP in chemistry, pharma & biotech, EU trade marks and litigation, EU and international designs, IPR enforcement in Europe, computer-implemented inventions, and of course - Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court. Early registration is highlight recommended!

Confederacy of European Patent Information User Groups (CEPIUG) is organising the 10th Year Anniversary Conference, which will be held in Milano, Italy, on 9-11th September 2018. A three-day programme includes six main sessions, more than 40 speakers will be involved in presentations and panels, an occasion to discuss about certification of professionals, higher education needs, a story of the profession, an exposition of professional services, an opportunity for networking, a patent search trial, a celebration party in the wonderful city centre, and much more. Registration, preliminary program and fee details are available here.

IP Out Network organises an event themed "In or Out: LGBT+ people and mental health". Join in at Kilburn & Strode London Offices on 30th July 2018 for a discussion of specific ways in which LGBT+ people are at risk of mental health issues, and what firms, colleagues and the individuals themselves can do to mitigate the risk. More details: here.

University of Antwerp

Call for Papers

8th International Conference on Information Law and Ethics (ICIL) 2018, entitled “Modern Intellectual Property Governance and Openness in Europe: A Long and Winding Road?”, will be held on 13-14th December 2018 at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Suggested topics for abstracts include: access to information, access to knowledge, open innovation, open science, open access, open data, data sharing, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, intellectual property and contemporary issues of openness, e-government and the digital divide. Abstracts may be submitted to info@icil.gr at the latest on 15th September 2018. Visit here for more information. 

Renmin University of China, Beijing, China, will host Asian Pacific Copyright Association’s (APCA) 2018 Conference on 26-28th October 2018. This year’s theme provides ample scope for scholars in diverse areas of copyright law. The APCA Executive Committee invites scholars at all levels of experience to submit a paper proposal, including an abstract (max. 500 words), the author’s name, title and affiliation. An English proposal may be sent to the APCA President, A/Prof. Susan Corbett, at susan.corbett@vuw.ac.nz, and a Chinese proposal - to A/Prof. Luo, Li, at luo.li@ruc.edu.cn by no later than 17th August 2018. More details: here.

Updated Guidelines

New Zealand Intellectual Property Office (IPONZ) has recently updated its trade mark practice guidelines to reflect the following items:

(1) Introduction of new practice guideline on Absolute grounds – Geographical indications. IPONZ has added a new practice guideline relating to the office’s interpretation of Section 20 of the Trade Marks Act 2002, which specifies that trade marks that contain geographical indications must not be registered in certain circumstances.

(2) Similarity of goods and services classes. IPONZ has added a new guideline regarding the similarity of goods in classes 32 and 33.

Publications

Our own Book Review Editor Hayleigh Bosher and Sevil Yeşiloğlu have published an article entitled “An analysis of the fundamental tensions between copyright and social media: the legal implications of sharing images on Instagram”. This analysis builds on the literature that recognises the underlying conflict between copyright and social networking sites (SNSs); namely that the basic implication of copyright is the restriction of copying, whereas the ethos of social networking is the promotion of sharing.

Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Interactive Entertainment Law Review (IELR) is now available and is currently free to access via Elgaronline online platform. The articles cover the topical issue of loot boxes in gambling law, and the question of whether video game input streaming can have copyright protection. Short analysis focus on digital distribution of computer programmes, and Virtual Reality products (both data protection issues, and the legal and regulatory pitfalls in VR advertising). Case Reviews consider the courts’ positions on tattoo copyright protection and portrait rights in eSports.

EnDOW project

The EnDOW project, aimed at studying and facilitating Diligent Search to clear the rights of Orphan Works was concluded on the 31st of May 2018. Its final conference, held at the EUIPO in Alicante on the 15th of May 2018, brought together the results of the three-years’ research, as well as a discussion on the best way to resolve the diligent search problem, with representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament and Europeana. See blogposts here and here.

The EnDOW Diligent Search Platform (available here) is an online tool that guides the user towards a step-by-step diligent search and produces a Diligent Search Report that provides evidence on record of the search carried out. If the right holder is not located, the work can be registered on the Orphan Works Database of the EUIPO and the work can be published online by the Cultural Institution. 

Image credits: IPONZ and teachandlearn.