Monday miscellany

Retail has moved on a bit
in recent years ...

IP and Retail.  The IPKat has heard from the organisers, CLT, that its Intellectual Property and Retailers conference in Holborn, London, on 13 February has been pulling in the registrants -- which is most gratifying for this Kat since he is chairing the day and greatly enjoys the buzz that is generated by a roomful of happy conferencers.  There are some excellent speakers (they're all excellent, actually), whose dedication, erudition and enthusiasm is at your disposal. If you've not yet registered but are still thinking of doing so, here's the link.

Preparing for the EQE? Patentanwalt and European Patent Attorney Rainer Loritz has written to the IPKat to let him know that, a few months ago, he completed his special edition of the "Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office" of June 2012. This edition shows the insertions and deletions as they relate to the old edition of 2010 (there is a separate version for each EPO official language). With the exception of the French version, it was actually published in November -- though happily the French version is now online. Adds Rainer, "I think this edition with visible 'deltas' might be especially useful for EQE preparation".  You can check it yourself here.


How happy is this Kat to see that two professional bodies in the United Kingdom -- the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys -- are willing to give up their members' time and commit themselves to bringing the new UK Minister for Intellectual Property up to speed. According to last Friday's press release:

Can you say"bifurcation" without moving your lips ...?

“Lord Younger has taken on the IP portfolio at a crucial stage in the detailed negotiations about the European Unitary Patent and associated Patents Court,” says Chris Mercer, president of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys. “He will need to get to grips with a huge volume of background in very short order if he is to stand a chance of making the European IP system work better for British industry [he ain't going to do it, predicts Merpel]. We at CIPA have made the same offer as we made to the new minister’s predecessor [and he didn't do it either ...]:  we stand ready to offer information and guidance, based on our close involvement with the country’s most innovative companies.”

According to Catherine Wolfe, President of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) plans to undertake many new activities, announced last month (17 December 2012) by Secretary of State Vince Cable. "This is a very exciting time especially in relation to public education and outreach", Catherine Wolfe says. “ITMA will continue to invest time and energy in offering the UK’s IP minister the benefit of our knowledge and experience in the trade mark and design sector, which is increasingly recognised as an important area of the economy.”

Since 2007, when the post was created, the UK has appointed no fewer than six good souls as Minister for Intellectual Property.  This compares favourably with Chelsea Football Club which, under the inspirational control of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovitch, has had no fewer than nine managers.  The main difference between them is that, with its constant changes at the top, Chelsea has won eight trophies, while the rotating heads at the top of the UK's IP tree have won nothing but brickbats.

Around the weblogs. IP Draughts has been enjoying the re-runs, on the BBC Parliament TV channel, of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee taking evidence on 12 November 2012 from representatives of Starbucks, Google and Amazon who were being asked whether those illustrious companies were paying enough tax in the UK --  or were they entering into tax avoidance schemes, sometimes involving royalty payments for use of intellectual property, to transfer revenue to a jurisdiction where tax rates were lower than in the UK. You can enjoy Mark Anderson's take on this legitimate but frustrating pastime here. Also highly worthy of note is Barry Sookman's materials pertinent to his talk at the Law Society of Upper Canada’s 17th 'Annual Intellectual Property Law: The Year in Review' programme. You don't just have to be Canadian to appreciate this: Barry's talk also spanned copyright developments the US, UK and Ireland, Australia, and Europe. You can take a peep here.