Sunday Surprises

Summer is at its height and so are the temperatures in most of Europe. While enjoying (or not) this heatwave, check the latest IP events and opportunities to be cool for the summer!

Events

A Kat ready to enjoy the summer

EUIPO - 25 Years of the Board of Appeal: Shaping new horizons - IP Case Law Conference, 7 and 8 July 2022 - Alicante, Spain, and Online

The EUIPO will celebrate the 25 years of the Board of Appeal in the highly acclaimed Intellectual Property Case Law Conferences (‘IPCLC’) that will take place in Alicante (and online) on 7 and 8 July 2022. The event is designed to encourage interactive discussions among participants through panel debates, with each of them covering 4 or 5 key topics related to each specific sector. Registration is open and more details can be found here.

Marques - CELEBRATING MARKS: How sustainability and technology will shape the future of brands - 20 to 23 September 2022 - Madrid, Spain

The 2022 MARQUES Annual Conference will be held in Madrid from 20 to 23 September 2022. The conference sessions will address in particular how sustainability and new technologies will shape the future of brands. Topics discussed will include Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain; digital dispute resolution; how to integrate and prioritise sustainability; responding to external disruption; virtual/augmented reality and deep fakes; branding innovative products, and enforcement in the metaverse. There will also be panels on CJEU and General Court case law, judicial approaches to parasitic competition, and international design protection strategies. Further information is available here.

2022 AIPPI World Congress San Francisco - 10 to 13 September 2022 - San Francisco, USA

AIPPI will bring its world congress in person again from 10 to 13 September 2022. Experts from different countries and regions will be sharing and exchanging insights on various areas of IP. The programme will include panel sessions, UPC Boot Camp, AIPPI Cafés, Women in AIPPI Social Event, Young Members Forum, 3 social events (incl. closing dinner), IP Lunches (incl. Diversity and Inclusion Today, Would you like some IP with your Wine?, and Copyright in Graffiti and Street Art). The website of the event contains information about the programme and registration.

European Commission - Trade and Technology Council Working Group 9 - Webinar: Intellectual property and SMEs in the digital economy - 7 July 2022 - Online

The European Commission will hold the third webinar of the Trade and Technology Council Working Group 9 on promoting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to and use of digital tools. The programme will feature speakers from the European Commission and the U.S. Government who will present and discuss subjects having significant importance for SMEs and being of major priority for policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic. The webinar is scheduled for 7 July 2022 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm (CEST) and would be open to SMEs from the U.S. and the EU. The event will be online and registration can be made here.

FIDE - The Metaverse As A Challenge To Classical IP - 29 June 2022 - Online

The Metaverse steadily developed, and its role became even more central to the business. Its massive use brings legal consequences for classic IP rights and offers real challenges in particular to trade marks, copyright and related rights and patents. Speakers will provide a worldwide picture of the future of "The Metaverse as a Challenge to Classical IP”, including on re-imagining IP in this area in favour of both business and consumers/society. FIDE's webinar will take place online on 29 June 2022 from 4:30pm to 5:30pm (CEST) and is open for registration.

LGBTIQ+ & Friends – Legal & IP - New Network Kick-Off Event - 14 July 2022 - Düsseldorf, Germany

The new LGBTIQ+ & Friends network and kickoff event on 14 July 2022 (starting at 6:00pm, CEST) wants to celebrate and promote this diversity for a networking session completely independent of law firm or corporate affiliation, gender, sexual orientation, or role models. Registration shall be made by 8 July 2022 here. The event will count on the presence of Darren Smyth, former PermaKat, patent attorney and partner of EIP, London, as well as a founding member of the UK LGBTIQ+ network "IP Out" as keynote speaker. He will address the following topics: (1) How much openness about being gay in the work environment has increased, but also the ways in which it is still discouraged. (2) IP Out - how it came about and how it has worked to increase visibility of LGBTIQ+ people in the profession, as well as how much there still is left to do.

4-5 UK - Order and Disorder – The Entropy of Intellectual Property Remedies - 7 July 2022 - London, UK

4-5 UK will hold on 7 July 2022 at 6:00pm (BST) an in-person seminar to discuss intellectual property remedies in London, UK. Speakers include James Bridgeman SC, Professor Mark Engelman, Jane Lambert, Christian Panayi, and Elizabeth Nicholls. More information about the event is available here.

Opportunities

Durham University - Conference Call for Papers: International Gaming: Laws and Regulations around Games in the Digital Era

On 8 and 9 September 2022, Durham University will hold a conference on the laws and regulation around gaming in the digital era. In this regard, it has launched a call for papers for the conference. While priority will be given to IP law, the conference will also consider abstracts from all disciplines of law and gaming. Possible topics include but are not limited to: (i) Intellectual property, including live streaming, clones, reskinning, modding and/or fan participations, etc.; (ii) Regulation, including game and/or chat moderation, safety by design, inappropriate content, gambling, state censorship of contents, etc; (iii) Data privacy; (iv) Legal issues arising from localization/culturalisation/translation; (v) Legal issues arising from abuse and harassment in games and gaming; (vi) VPNs, illegal downloading of games, etc; (vii) E-sports; and (viii) The metaverse and the future of gaming. Abstracts of 500 words maximum for 20-minute papers should be submitted here before 15 July 2022. More information about the conference is available here.

ReCreating Europe - Call for Papers – Rethinking copyright flexibilities, Nicosia (31st October – 1st November)

The University of Cyprus, together with reCreating Europe, is conveying the conference “Rethinking copyright flexibilities”. The event will take place from 31 October to 1 November 2022 at the Faculty of Law of the University of Cyprus, in Nicosia, and will be offered in a blended format. Articles are being accepted for submission, provided that they address one of the following topics in an EU and comparative perspective, including: (i) copyright exceptions and limitations; (ii) copyright internal limits; (iii) copyright and the public domain; (iv) copyright and fundamental/human rights; (v) extended and mandatory collective licensing schemes; (vi) exhaustion, digital exhaustion and the right to repair; (vii) balancing of copyright law with competition law and consumer law; and (viii) copyright flexibilities in platform regulation. Abstracts, no longer than 300 words, should be sent to copyrightflexibilities@gmail.com by 30 June 2022. The application should indicate whether the contribution has already been published or is a work in progress and whether the author(s) is(are) available to join the conference in person or online. Preference will be given to applicants willing to make in-person presentations. Successful applicants will be notified by the end of July.

Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice (JIPLP) - The national transpositions of the DSM Directive: JIPLP Special DSM Issue

On 8 June 2022, JIPLP hosted a webinar chaired by our PermaKat Eleonora Rosati, during which the authors of the latest issue discussed and presented their articles regarding national transpositions of the DSM Directive. In case you have missed it, the recording is now available on YouTube.

Stockholm IP Law Review (SIPLR) - From open access to open science – The interface between IP, academia and the market

The last SIPLR Conference offered an opportunity to present and debate numerous concurring aspects related to Open Access publications and Open Science, everything from contract law to human rights and labor law to intellectual property rights. If you have missed the conference, it is still possible to catch up as the recorded version is available on their website.

Announcement

UKIPO kindly asked the IPKat to share the following announcement, which had been shared to stakeholders:

"A note from Tim Moss CBE, IPO CEO

A message from Tim to our partners

After five years as CEO at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), I have been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer and Director General at the Welsh Government. I feel honoured to have been selected for this role, which is a brand new one, working at the heart of Government in Wales. I will take up this post on the 1 September 2022. 

I have had an amazing time in office at the IPO, leading a brilliant team of people. Deciding to leave and take on this new challenge has been incredibly difficult for me, and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together. 

This country has one of the best IP systems in the world, and I am grateful to our partners for their support in helping us keep it that way.  Your input has been invaluable as we strive to deliver world-class IP services and continue our work to build a world-leading IP environment, unleashing innovation’s potential.  It has been my privilege to have worked closely with so many of you. 

Please rest assured that supported by the talented team of dedicated people we have here at IPO, we will be maintaining business as usual as we continue our collaborative drive towards a truly world-class IP system for the UK.  

Harry Rich, Chair, IPO Steering Board and Jo Shanmugalingam, Director General for Science, Innovation & Growth, BEIS, said of the news: 

“We congratulate Tim on his appointment, which is sad news for the IPO but a fantastic opportunity for him.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank Tim for his five years of inspiring leadership and dedicated service at the IPO and wish him every success in his new role. 

“We will start the recruitment process for Tim’s successor immediately and plans are being put in place for leadership of the IPO in the period between Tim’s departure and his successor starting with us. We will provide further updates on this in the coming weeks, and further announcements about the Deputy CEO position after the interviews in early July.   

“The IPO has a very strong team at all levels; we are delivering for our customers, stakeholders and the wider economy and together, we will continue to build on this.”  

Please email us if you have any questions or concerns: Strategic.Comms@ipo.gov.uk."