Friday Fantasies

While the scent of roses fills the air and heart-shaped chocolates begin to disappear from the shelves of your local supermarket, this Kat hasn’t been too distracted by Cupid’s arrow. Between the flowers and heart-shaped hoopla, she's been busy scouting the latest IP heartbeats in news, events and opportunities.

Events

On 17 February WIPO will release the World Intellectual Property Report 2026 on Diffusion of Innovation that examines how innovation spreads across economies and focuses on the factors enabling technology. This will be accompanied by a hybrid launch event with more information here.

The following day, the FairMusE project will conclude with its final hybrid conference in Brussels to tackle transparency, fairness, and governance in music streaming. These are issues that this Kat in particular has been tracking closely in relation to AI (IPKat here, here and here), and so she cannot wait to hear the discussion. Register here.

Pumpkin keeping up to date
with the latest IPKat news

Towards the end of the month Professor Eleonora Rosati will discuss whether AI can develop outside of a copyright licensing approach at a webinar organised by the Durham Law School. More information can be found here.

Next month, on 19 March, the London Irish Lawyers Association (LILA), Ireland for Law and the EU Bar Association of Ireland will provide a seminar on patent litigation in Ireland and the emerging practice of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). Those interested in attending should register their interest here.

The inaugural Irena & Jerzy Wiszniewski Foundation Conference will take place at the University of Warsaw and the Polish Academy of Sciences from 19-20 March focused on the role of competition and new regulatory regimes when preserving democratic principles and beyond. More information is provided here and if you’re interested you can register here. On a lighter note, you can follow the conference organizer’s adorable Ukrainian refugee kitty, Pumpkin, on social media right here.

From 8-10 April, the 33rd Annual IP Conference will take place at Fordham Law School. This year the conference includes an expanded 2.5 day format that will feature new sessions and broader global representation. Attendees will gain a comprehensive overview of international IP and technology developments. Register here.

Call for papers

There is a new submission deadline for the ATRIP 2026 Annual Congress held at the University of São Paulo from 28 June to 1 July 2026. The new submission deadline is 24 February 2026. The extended deadline also applies to the 2025 Essay Competition, sponsored by FICPI. More information here.

The International Intellectual Property Conference in Salzburg requires a 300-word abstract by 31 March focused on themes like AI, blockchain and sustainable development. More information here.

The IP Scholars Conference (IPSC) at Stanford holds a ‘work-in-progress’ workshop for copyright academics from 6-7 August. The deadline for abstracts is 15 May 2026.

 

News

The University of Liverpool has officially launched the MusicFutures IP Clinic and Lab partnering with the UK Intellectual Property Office and the Liverpool Law Clinic. It forms part of MusicFutures, a project co-led by Dr Sabine Jacques, a specialist in Intellectual Property Law at the Liverpool Law School. The project will see student volunteers work alongside legal professionals to provide free advice to music creators and innovators across the Liverpool City Region. To register your interest for legal advice head here.

Opportunities

The WIPO PCT Fellowship in Geneva is currently accepting applications for its 2026 cohort of translators, technologists and technical specialists. Interested applicants must submit their application by 31 March.

The Pan-European Seal programme and Young Professionals traineeship are open for applications from 1-31 March.