Thursday thingies

Alicante's ADDA: venue for the design
conference and itself the product of
environmentally-friendly urban design

Back in circulation. IPKat team blogger Jeremy is now back in the thick of things, following a bit of holiday plus trips to Fordham (see blogposts here) and Alicante, where he participated in the two-day celebratory conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the Community design right.  He didn't do any blogging from the Alicante event since he was a bit under the weather, but he'd like to put on record the fact that it was a very jolly event with some stand-out moments which readers will be able to enjoy when the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) publishes the official version.  One was the fierce-but-friendly contest between Counterfeit Chic blogger and Fordham professor Susan Scafidi, urging that the United States adopt EU-style protection for designs, and ECTA Law Committee member Fabio Angelini, who summoned the angels of empiricism, commonsense and self-interest to testify that, so far as concerns fashion design protection, less means better for everyone -- absolutely everyone. Another was the excellent way in which OHIM designs head Jakub Pinkowski threaded together the contrasting PowerPoint illustrations of the two earlier speakers in the workshop session on design filing practice, to show how his office handles applications.  A number of distinguished design-law bloggers were in attendance and this Kat hopes that their thoughts will trickle through into Class 99 and beyond.

Taking it seriously ...

Leaving Alicante. A press release from the International Trademark Association (INTA) informed the Kat last night that its Board of Directors had selected Etienne Sanz de Acedo to succeed the affablde Alan Drewsen as its Chief Executive Officer. Etienne is currently Head of Communications at OHIM. According to INTA, "Sanz de Acedo will work to cultivate meaningful partnerships in new regions and with other IP and industry associations, as well as with non-traditional entities such as trade unions, public administrations and governments [Merpel is amused at the description "non-traditional" for entities that have been around for a lot longer than INTA ...]. He will collaborate with INTA members and partners to begin a global dialogue on critical issues such as the expansion of international registration systems and the importance of educating the public about the value of trade marks in protecting consumers and promoting vibrant economies". The IPKat wishes Etienne all the best in his new position; he's sure that the appointment of a European to spearhead the next stage of INTA's sustained growth-spurt will do much to reassure cynics that the organisation's ethos is truly international and not just US-in-Disguise.

What about 'Fame
is the Purr?',
asks Merpel

IP Hall of Fame.  This year's new entrants to the IP Hall of Fame have been announced.  Here they are, together with their HoF potted bios:

• Miles Alexander: Leading US trade mark lawyer and partner at Kilpatrick Townsend. During his career that spans more than 50 years, he has helped shaped the trade mark landscape through his participation in the Trademark Review Commission which drafted the landmark 1989 Lanham Act revisions.
• Stephen Ladas: Author and named partner in US IP firm Ladas and Parry LLP. He was a key player in the 1958 revisions to the Paris Convention, and authored seminal texts including his three volume treatise Patents, Trademarks and Related Rights. The Ladas Memorial Award for legal writing was established by the International Trademark Association in his memory.
• Peter Meier-Beck: Presiding Judge of the German Federal Court of Justice’s patent senate. He is also an honorary professor and prolific author who has done much to promote harmonisation of patent laws across Europe and throughout the world.
• Peter Dirk Siemsen: Leading Brazilian intellectual property lawyer and partner at Dannemann, Siemsen. During a career that spans more than 60 years, he has been highly influential in shaping the IP landscape in Brazil and is founder and president of honour of the Brazilian Intellectual Property Association.
• Herbert Wamsley: Executive Director of the Intellectual Property Owners Association. A vocal lobbyist and campaigner for increased public awareness of the economic importance of IP rights, he is an influential advocate for the interests of IP owners both in the US and internationally. 

The IPKat, who is represented in the list of HoF Academicians who elect each year's entrants, warmly congratulates the inductees and hopes that their election will serve as an incentive to others to make an active contribution to the well-being of the IP community.  Merpel is sad that there isn't a Hall of Fame for fictional cats, which give a lot more pleasure to the world at large than most IP personalities do, and at a fraction of the cost: Mickey and Minnie, Sylvester, Snagglepuss, Garfield, Tobermory, the Cheshire Cat, Felix, Top Cat, Tom (as in Jerry), the Cat in the Hat, not to mention the Aristocats and loads more ...

Sore paws? UK-based IP academic Alan McKenna, a one-time guest contributor to this blog, is doing a 100 km [the IPKat says km stands for 'kilometer'; Merpel says 'kat miles'] charity walk for Mesothelioma UK in June, and has set up a page here on the justgiving site. Although he calls it it a "penny a kilometer walk", he's asking for a whole £1 from anyone who is willing to sponsor him, a sure indication that he plans to do all 100 km, notwithstanding any attractions and distractions that he might encounter en route. This Kat hopes that there will be some sponsors among his readers.

Around the weblogs.  The IPKat has been keeping an eye on former guest Kat Robert Cumming's new blog, iPit, which aspires to focus on the interaction of intellectual property rights and information technology: you'll find there a combination of punchy comments and practical insights. Let's wish a happy birthday to patents4life, written by Warren D. Woessner, which was four years old this March.

European Patent Decisions. If you are a subscriber to Sweet & Maxwell's European Patent Decisions, you should be receiving looseleaf Release 42 any minute now, if you haven't already done so.  Authored by katfriends Noam Shemtov and Florian Leverve, the EPD's details are available here.