Friday Fantasies

There are only 115 days and 10 hours until Christmas!

On this last day of the summer holiday, IPKat purrs with excitement to present its readers the hottest announcements on the horizon! Lots of events, a new IP course, open vacancy, writing competitions and a call for papers will keep the IP community busy for the next few months!

Events

On 17^th of September 2018, as part of London Design Festival, Gowling WLG will be hosting a Q&A event with a panel of design experts discussing the opportunities for designers in this multigenerational world.  The panel of design experts will discuss their experience in designing innovative new products and services and how they've protected their ideas. With increased innovation comes increased copying, so the session will cover practical ways you can protect yourself cost-effectively. Registration for this event is at 4pm, and the event begins at 4.30pm. Drinks on the Gowling WLG balcony overlooking the Thames will take place at 5.45pm. Register for the event here.

Managing Intellectual Property is holding its 3^rd annual Life Sciences Forum in the Metropolitan Club, New York, on 12^th of September 2018.  The event promises to bring together leading industry players, including in-house and outside counsel, and members of the judiciary, to address the latest decisions and changes affecting the life sciences industry today.  Topics to be addressed include "Spotlight on PTAB IPRs - understanding the impact of the Oil States and SAS decisions", "Pharma litigation: an update on inequitable conduct and other key developments over the past 12 months" and "Essential strategies to adopt when the commercialising your IP".  Full details can be found here. The event is free to in-house counsel.  IPKat readers in private practice benefit from a 20% discount on the full attendance rate – to take advantage of this offer, please email registrations@managingip.com quoting "IPKat". 

Managing Intellectual Property invites IPKat readers to two other patent forums in Munich and Paris, respectively. The Paris event will take place on 11^th of September 2018 and the Munich event on the 13^th of September 2018. The Forums will feature the same agenda, assessing whether recent legislative developments can bridge the gap and overcome the lack of harmonisation across Europe. Essential developments will be examined including Unwired Planet v Huawei and FRAND enforcement; EU Trade Secrets Directive; draft French patent law and the role of plausibility in patent validity. Visit here for more information.

Addicted to pop culture

Les Jeunes Universitaires Spécialisés en Propriété Intellectuelle (JUSPI) is organising a conference focused on law and pop culture. The event will be held in Strasbourg on 9^th of October 2018. The provisional program is here. Our own Kat Eleonora Rosati will deliver a talk-- “Branderella: trade marks and fictional characters”.

Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN) will hold an event “What’s in a Name? Leveraging Brand Value through Trade Marks”, which will look at the role of trade marks in brand value, review how trade mark supported brand value is leveraged in company strategy and how this value is insured through IP insurance. IPAN Network Meetings are primarily for IPAN members. However, if you are not a member but would like to attend this event you can email the organisers to enquire about availability at event@ipaware.org.   Date: 26^th of September 2018. Time: 4-6pm Location: CIPA’s offices in Holborn. More details here.

Education

The University of Notre Dame Law School in London has launched a new course on Intellectual Property Law in Practice, being a US Bar Accredited program. It is designed for both ND postgrads and UK IP practitioners and will cover client interviewing, case analysis, drafting and opinion writing, advocacy, moot, negotiations/mediation, and professional ethics. The next session of the course - "The importance of case analysis", will be held on Thursday 6^th of September 2018 and will include a talk by Gerladine Andrews J., Judge of the High Court. Location: Fischer Hall Room 2.06. More details about each session and registration are available here.

Vacancy Announcement

A fixed term position is open for a Research Associate in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Sustainability Management to work on the international consortium project “Intellectual Property Models to Accelerate Sustainability Transitions”. Candidate requirements and application process are specified here.

Writing Competitions

The International Literary and Artistic Association (ALAI), supported by European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC), will reward two students for their research work on a subject: (i) related to authors’ rights; (ii) with a European dimension (including studies that involve a comparison with the EU system); or (iii) relevant to the collective management of authors’ rights. The competition is open to students of all nationalities (EU or non-EU). 15^th of October 2018 is the deadline for students to submit a 1-page abstract; the full paper will be due by 15^th January 2019. Timeline, guidelines, jury panel and more details are here and here.

The Honorable William Conner Writing Competition was established to recognize exceptionally well written papers that are submitted by law students; the winners will be presented each year at the Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner at the Princeton Club in New York City. The competition is open to students enrolled in a J.D. or LL.M. program. The subject matter must be directed to one of the traditional subject areas of intellectual property, patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair trade practices and antitrust.  Entries must be submitted electronically by Monday, 4^th of March 2019. For submission requirements, please click here. The Winner will receive a cash award of $1,500.00 and the Runner-up will receive a cash award of $1,000.00.

Call for Papers

On 13-14^th December 2018 the University of Antwerp, in collaboration with KU Leuven, University of Gent and Ionian University, will host the 8th International Conference on Information Law (ICIL) entitled “Modern Intellectual Property Governance and Openness in Europe: A Long and Winding Road?”. Abstracts are invited to be submitted to  info@icil.gr at the latest by 15^th September 2018. Suggested topics 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. Event website is available here.

Image credits: vako_k and emilympool