Friday fantasies

Here's a reminder for readers who quite properly concern themselves with such trivia as whether they are giving (or taking) legal advice that comes from a reliable source.  The Official Journal of the European Union has published on a number of occasions the following Notice to Readers:

Council Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 of 7 March 2013 on the electronic publication of the Official Journal of the European Union 

In accordance with Council Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 of 7 March 2013 on the electronic publication of the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ L 69, 13.3.2013, p. 1), as of 1 July 2013, only the electronic edition of the Official Journal shall be considered authentic and shall have legal effect. 

Where it is not possible to publish the electronic edition of the Official Journal due to
unforeseen and exceptional circumstances, the printed edition shall be authentic and shall
have legal effect in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in Article 3 of
Regulation (EU) No 216/2013.

Bangladesh: do brand owners contribute
to the problem -- and can they help to part
of the solution?

Around the weblogs. Class 46 announces that MARQUES's Rapid Response seminar on the latest EU trade mark reform proposals this coming Monday is now so popular that it's going to be webinared too. The same blog carries a request for feedback on the excellent draft paper on the unitary nature of the Community trade mark presented by Lukasz Zelechowski at the INTA Meeting in Dallas earlier this month.  On the copyright-focused 1709 Blog, John Enser wonders whether the leaked news an expected outbreak of site blocking orders against internet-based copyright infringers is likely to perturb rights holders, while the ever-inspirational Ben Challis takes a look at the latest developments concerning copyright trolls in that vast and increasingly interesting jurisdiction of Canada -- and indeed further south. The fifth Brave New World post in Don McCombie's series for PatLit delves into the mechanics of some of those dull but necessary things that make patent enforcement a reality in the new Europe, such as provisional injunctive relief, freezing of assets and orders preventing the destruction of evidence. Finally, shifting from Europe to Bangladesh, Neil Wilkof treats IP Finance readers to his thoughts on what it means for brand owners to be known to have sourced their high-value products from the factory complex in which so many workers so tragically died.

This Kat is delighted to learn that his friends at Edward Elgar Publishing -- which publishes loads of intellectual property books including the Research Handbooks in Intellectual Property Series (which this Kat edits: see eg here) --  has won the 2013 award for Independent Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year at the annual industry awards hosted by the Bookseller in London this Monday.  Congratulations, says this Kat, who adds that the folk from Edward Elgar are fun to deal with.

Next Wednesday, 22 May, if you are in London and have nothing better to do (and it may well be that there is nothing better to do), the Competition Law Association holds its second session on procedural rights -- a subject which should be of interest to IP experts too. The full title of the event is "Legal principles for disclosure in the antitrust context" and the speakers are Kassie Smith QC and Eddy de Smijter. The venue is the London office of Arnold & Porter UK LLP, International Financial Centre, 25 Old Broad Street [note for US readers: this street is not named after any old broad ...], London EC2N 1HQ Click here for details.

Professor Hovenkamp
in visionary mode

Spanning two sets of dates (12 to 13 and 18 to 19 June), University College London's Faculty of Law  has a CPD course coming up on "Innovation, Competition Law and IP Rights". This course has been put together by UCL's Centre for Law, Economics and Society and it is taught by Professor Herbert Hovenkamp (University of Iowa). The 16 CPD points come at a price --you have to take 16 hours of tuition in order to get them.  The course analyses the value of competition law in addressing a variety of practices used in innovation-intensive markets. These include the interconnection of networks, ‘duties to deal’, the licensing and distribution of IP rights (standard setting organisations and patent pools) and reverse settlements as adopted by firms active in the manufacturing and delivery of services or non-practising entities, drawing from examples in both EU and US law. You can get further details and register here.  Best of all, if you quote your VIP Katcode of  ipkat2013hovenkamp, you can enjoy a full 10% discount off of the standard ticket price.

If the judges are like this, what
must the enforcers be like?

Tipple Dine with TIPLO? The Intellectual Property Lawyers Organisation (TIPLO) is hosting its next dinner on Tuesday 6 June. The subject? "The Enforcement Directive comes of age, its effect on IP remedies including: Damages after Boehringer II and Hollister, Final injunctive relief, Punitive damages, Blocking injunctions and Publicity orders after Apple v Samsung".   This promises to be a seriously internationally event, since there will be a discussion of the English and Scottish experience led by Mr Justice Birss and Lord Glennie.  Lord Justice Floyd is chairing the event, no doubt to add a touch of sobriety to the proceedings. Further particulars and registration here.

"What's in it for us?"

As if this wasn't enough, the lions and the lambs -- or at any rate their biped equivalents -- are lying down together.  The UK's Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA) are commendably holding a joint seminar on "The 2013 Intellectual Property Bill -- What's in it for us [how lovely, says Merpel, to hear that question, so often camouflaged with euphemisms, actually asked directly!] and our clients?"  This is actually an extremely cogent and relevant half-dayer, manned and womanned by a strong team of practitioners drawn from not only the lions and the lambs but also from the ranks of the solicitors. It would be a shame to miss it even though 7 June does look suspiciously like a Friday afternoon. Click here for information, inspiration and registration.