Monday miscellany

No, Tootles --
a poll Kat is not
a polecat

Summer surveys. With nine days left to vote, the IPKat's sidebar poll on what people think of "King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin" as a law firm's name is currently indicating a certain lack of enthusiasm for it. Don't forget to vote: your opinion is dear to us.  A greater spread of opinions is reflected in the jiplp weblog's sidebar poll on what readers take the words "Greek yoghurt" to mean. You can take your time to reflect on this, since there are still 26 days to go before this poll closes.  Finally, with 11 days to go, Afro-IP's sidebar poll on where the World Intellectual Property Organization should open its proposed African regional office(s) is a bit of a four-horse race, so your vote can easily be the deciding one.  Merpel adds: with a readership spread over five continents and goodness knows how many time zones, it's difficult for us all to share each other's views and thoughts in any meaningful way.  Admittedly there's nothing profound about sidebar polls, and they are no substitute for a good chat with fellow IP enthusiasts over a pint of Badger at the Old Nick, but they do give us a small idea of what other members of the same community of IP folk are thinking or feeling.

OHIM, where are you? It's now nearly two weeks since the IPKat posted a piece, "Small errors, not many people affected -- or are there hidden consequences"?, which posed some questions regarding Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) practice relating to the publication of Community trade mark applications.  The Kat is disappointed not to have received a response from OHIM, and even a couple of friendly nudges in the direction of OHIM via its Twitter account at @OAMITWEETS don't seem to have done the job.  Come on, OHIM! Even a short, sweet response to the effect that the problem alluded to is actually no problem, ideally for some specific reason, would be better than nothing.

Forthcoming events.  The IPKat's Forthcoming Events page, headed 'For your delectation', can be found by clicking here.  It's not an omnibus compendium of all IP events known to man or beast, and this weblog does not have the staff -- or the time -- to list every IP event anyway. Most of the events listed are those in which members of the IPKat team or their friends are participating, or those which offer some sort of discount to IPKat blog readers.  Do take a look from time to time and see what's coming up. It might even give some of us a chance to meet some of you!

That Intellectual Property Bill. The Intellectual Property Bill which is currently wending its way through the United Kingdom's legislative system has now passed its third reading in the unelected, unanswerable and therefore fairly useful House of Lords. Having reached this stage, the Bill now goes all the way back to the House of Commons for further consideration. The House of Lords may know how to wield the rubber stamp when necessary, but it can be quite proactive when sufficiently stirred -- as happened here when the Lords and Ladies added a new defence where a person charged with unauthorised copying reasonably believed that he or she was not infringing (to ensure that wrongful business behaviour is penalised while businesses that operate legitimately are spared a presumed chilling effect). So far as registered designs are concened, damages awarded against partnerships must be paid out of partnership assets -- and where a partnership is found guilty of an offence, every partner is also guilty unless he or she is proved to have been ignorant of the offence, or to have tried to prevent it [whatever happened to ignorantia iuris haud excusat, Merpel wants to know]. Further, using an infringing product in the course of a business is not an ofence if that use is for a purpose that is merely incidental to the carrying on of the business. Among other gems is a proposed new section 88B for the Patents Act 1977 which would enable the Unified Patent Court to be added to the list of organisations which, under section 1 of the International Organisations Act 1968, can be declared to have the capacities of a body corporate in English law. Says the IPKat, you can keep a close eye on the passage of this Bill by regularly visiting its own web page here.

Are you a follower of fashion?  This year's Intellectual Property in the Fashion Industry Conference, organised by CLT Conferences, takes place in Central London on 16 October.  Apart from being one of the more pleasant and cheerful events on the often all-too-serious IP conference circuit, this conference is an excuse for a happy confluence of Kats.  Guest Kat Laetitia Lagarde (Jacobacci Studio Legale, Turin) is flying over to speak, while Cambridge University-based regular Kat Eleonora Rosati completes the programme's Italian contingent.  IPKat team blogger Jeremy is in the chair.  For further details of the day, including the identity and qualifications of the other (excellent) speakers and the nitty-gritty of how to register -- and at what cost -- just click here and fiddle around a bit.


Almost as interesting Even more interesting Equally interesting and a good deal cheaper than registering for a conference is "Unitary Rights and Judicial Respect in the EU -- 'Bringing cool back', by Judge Colin Birss QC (as he then was).  This piece leads the constantly improving content of the recently-published Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property, vol. 3, no. 2 (2013).  All you have to do, in order to enjoy this popular and stimulating judge's thoughts to the full, is click here. Well done, publishers Edward Elgar, for supporting this venture!  To find out more about this journal in general, click here.

More fun than Sofia's People's
Palace of Culture -- and better buiilt?

In the summer heat of Sofia city, writes Bulfarian katfriend Ventsi Stoilov, I'm  writing you because I was informed about some simple but useful news from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It concerns some new special services offered by WIPO such as:

(a) Issuance of a certified copy of a certificate of an international trade mark registration and of a certificate of its renewal. WIPO's International Bureau may issue certified copies of certificates of international registrations effected as from January 1, 2006, as well as of the certificates corresponding to their renewals. Holders of international registrations effected as from January 1, 2011, or their recorded representatives, may download, free of charge, simple copies of these certificates using the Madrid Portfolio Manager, available at the following address: http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/services/ 

(b) Expedited establishment of a certified extract from the International Register. Along with a request for the establishment of a simple or detailed certified extract from the International Register, users may also request that such establishment be expedited. In such cases, WIPO's International Bureau will produce the simple or detailed certified extract within five working days, following the receipt of a request for its expedited establishment. 

What Kats do when they
have just been legalized

(c) Legalization of a certified extract from the International Register. Along with a request for the establishment of a simple or detailed certified extract from the International Register, users may also request that such extract be legalized with a view to their production in non-Contracting Parties of the Madrid system. Under Article 5 ter(3) of the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and Article5 ter(3) of the Protocol Relating that Agreement, extracts from the International Register with a view to their production in one of the Contracting Parties of the Madrid system shall be exempt from any legalization.

Thanks, Ventsi, for this news.

Don't know Kfir Luzzatto? In one life he's a regular patent attorney - but in another he's an author with a flair for science fiction that exceeds even the wildest claims in his clients' patent specifications. Today is the last day on which Kfir's space opera, The Odyssey Gene,  will be free on Amazon Kindle. Don't miss this golden opportunity! To get your free copy, go to the book's Amazon.com page and enjoy yourself.  Merpel adds, there is no truth in the rumour that Kfir Luzzatto is another pseudonym of the prolific JK Rowling ...