Friday Fantasies

New year, new IP opportunities and events

The new year has just begun but there are already several news items, unfortunately including some sad ones, to report. Have a look below.

Katnews

We have two major news items we wish to share with our readers, one concerning the Team and the other a(nother) welcome accolade for The IPKat.

IPKat Team

Over the past several months, The IPKat Team has greatly benefitted from the work and support of InternKats Chiara Gallo and Aleksandra Czubek and GuestKat Henry Yang. With the arrival of 2024, their role has however come to an end. This is not a farewell though, but simply an arrivederci: we look forward to reading more of their insights in the near future!

The IPKat is the Best UK Intellectual Property Blog!

Some excellent news was broken right before the end of 2023, with FeedSpot ranking The IPKat first in its list of ‘30 best UK Intellectual Property blogs’ based on “traffic, social media followers & freshness.”

While we are obviously thrilled and honoured for this further recognition, we wish to thank our Readers for their affection and support throughout all this time. We could and would not do any of this without you!

Professor Susan Sell

The IPKat has unfortunately heard of the untimely passing of Professor Susan Sell, Australian National University (ANU). The author of inter alia Private Power, Public Law: the Globalization of Intellectual Property Rights and Who Governs the Globe?, Professor Sell earned her PhD in Political Science at the University of California – Berkeley and worked at US universities before joining ANU. The IPKat Team sends its deepest condolences to Professor Sell’s family, friends, students, and colleagues.

Events

There are several events taking place over the next several months. As always, don’t forget to check our Events page for up-to-date information.

Sir Richard Arnold 8th Annual Lecture (21 February)

On 21st February, the University of Westminster will host its annual “Sir Richard Arnold lecture”, delivered by – well, of course – Sir Richard Arnold himself in his capacity, this time, as alumnus and Visiting Professor at Westminster Law School. For further details, click here.

Assimilate webinars

The Katfriends at Assimilate are organizing several webinars over the next few months. They also wish to inform IPKat readers that they can claim a 10% discount in the registration fee by mentioning ‘IPKat’ in their registration forms.

The webinars are:

• Intellectual Property for Commercial Lawyers (24-25 January)
• Freedom to Operate for Life Sciences and Pharma (7-8 February)
• IP Licensing for Life Sciences and Pharma (6-7 March)
• IP Essentials for Scientists and Engineers (10 April)
• Protecting IP Rights, FTO and IP Strategy for Start Ups and SMEs (24-25 April)
• Protecting Confidential Information, Trade Secrets and Know-How (15 May)

Other news and opportunities

USM Haller CJEU referral

Just before Christmas, The IPKat reported on a new referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union that Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has made on the implications of Cofemel, C-683/17. The background proceedings relate to the well-known modular furniture system USM Haller.

As alerted by Katfriend Adi Zemann, the text of the referral is now available: just click here. The IPKat will closely monitor the next steps in this intriguing case.

Copyright opportunity at Netflix

Netflix is seeking to recruit a Manager – Copyright, Cultural and Content Protection Policy based in London or Amsterdam. If that sounds like the right opportunity for you, then click here to learn more.

Entertainment Law & Policy Fellowship at the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program (EICOP)

Today’s the last day to submit an application to become the next Entertainment Law & Policy Fellow and enrol in a 1-year program jointly run by MPA and EICOP, and gain relevant experience working at the MPA as well as its member studios.

The program seeks to ensure that the best and brightest students have the opportunity to participate in the entertainment industry, regardless of their background, by providing selected Fellows with housing, travel, and stipends.

For further information and to apply, hurry up and click here.

Call for abstracts: Socio-Legal Studies Association's 2024 conference

A call for abstracts is open until 12 January to participate in a panel devoted to “Law, Machine, and Creativity: Socio-Legal Implications of Regulating Generative AI”, within the annual conference of the Socio-Legal Studies Association, which will be held at the University of Portsmouth on 26-28 March. If this sounds appealing, then click here to learn more.