Wednesday whimsies

Congratulations. Guest Kat Matthias Lamping has recently become the proud father of a son, baby Noah. The Kat team wish Matthias and his partner every joy. This old Kat, who has been in the position of a recent father on a few occasions in his life, expresses the hope that Matthias will make sure he doesn't waste those precious sleepless nights by staying in bed when he has the chance to get up and do some blogging!  Further congratulations are due to Kat team member Neil Wilkof, who has recently expanded his collection of grandchildren with the birth of a little boy, Yotam. Our best wishes extend to all Neil's family.

Not all Apple disputes
involve Samsung ...

Around the weblogs. The jiplp weblog carries a rare Current Intelligence note on Community plant variety protection mechanisms for apples by leading German plant variety expert Gert Würtenberger, here. Ben Challis's thoughts on Martin Kretschmer's thoughts on the new scheme for handling copyright in orphan works in the United Kingdom can he found on the 1709 Blog here, this being a subject that has also attracted the attention of London-based barrister Francis Davey here. PatLit guest contributor Don McCombie has now posted the fourth in his series on the Brave New World of patent litigation in Europe, this time tackling the governing law.  Over on Class 46, Laetitia Lagarde explains why you just can't register the words SLIM BELLY as a Community trade mark for, among other things, treadmills, massage services and the renting of sanitary facilities. Still on trade marks, John L. Welch's TTABlog reflects on a recent decision to deny US trade mark protection to a clear plastic cube as packaging for "parlour games". Merpel, who greatly enjoyed parlour games such as Pass the Parcel and Postman's Knock in her youth, wonders what the clear cube packaging is all about ...

Ever since the days of Dick
Whittington and his Kat,
people have dreamed of making
theirfortune in London

Are you an intellectual property lawyer, paralegal or prospective trainee solicitor who would like to work in London?

“A friend of the IPKat in London has a vacancy for an IP paralegal, to start as soon as possible. She would also be interested to hear from qualified lawyers who want more enjoyable, flexible ways of working, so as to accommodate other interests or family responsibilities. The starting salary consists of a basic £18k, and a bonus scheme based on firm and individual targets, so entrepreneurial solicitors who can contribute to the growth ambitions of the firm can expect to achieve much higher salaries. The firm will supply a computer for working from home. If your goal is ultimately to qualify as a solicitor, the role may lead to a training contract”.

If this sounds like what you’ve been looking for, email the IPKat here with the subject “IP Opportunity”, appending a short CV, and he will forward it to the firm concerned.

What better form of digital
entertainment is there than
an old-fashioned cat's cradle?

When the IPKat first announced the forthcoming conference on Intellectual Property and Digital Entertainment, scheduled for Central London on 18 July, there wasn't a website for it.  You can now get further details of this event, which Kat team member Jeremy is chairing, here. Notable bloggers on the programme include the Glastonbury Festival's own inimitable Ben Challis, plus fellow 1709 Blog team member Iona Harding. Rosie Burbidge (Art & Artifice) also stars.  Bookings are already coming in so, if you sign up now, you can at least rest assured that you won't be alone ...

"Stop Legalised Theft of Copyright Works" is the subject of a UK-based e-petition which, kicked off by Will Nicholls, had over 23,900 signatories when the Kat began writing this paragraph.  The subject of this petition is the need to something to ameliorate the fate, real or imagined depending on which side you're on, of photographs that are separated from their creators.  You can study the rubric and, if you so wish, sign it here.