IP WRITING - ALL WRITE FOR SOME

Can you write good IP?

One of IPKat co-blogmeister Jeremy's main occupations is writing; another is editing. He spends much of each waking day performing one or both of those tasks. When editing, he is often delighted with the high quality of the prose he reads. More often he is dismayed, particularly when he faces a dilemma: should he send back an article, chapter or case note and ask for it to be rewritten, or should he rewrite it himself? The gloomy prospect, when asking for a rewrite, is the expectation that the second draft may be just as poor as the first, the old errors being carefully replaced by fresh new ones.

The cause of this dilemma is not necessarily that the writer is unfamiliar with English. Many of the worst offenders are native English speakers, while some of the best prose comes from those for whom English is a second or subsequent tongue.

The IPKat, pondering this problem, is curious to know whether there exist among his readers any IP practitioners, owners and enthusiasts who would be interested in attending a half-day workshop, "Better Writing for Intellectual Property". This course would

* summarise the basic principles of good writing,

* set a simple exercise in drafting or correcting a short IP case note or client letter,

* set a further exercise in seeing how many errors and stylistic issues can be found in a single passage from an IP article.

The course would be interactive (i.e. you have to participate - you can't just sit there taking notes) and would be run at a fairly minimal sort of cost. If you are in a position of power and influence, you could even send someone else to attend on your behalf! If you're interested, email the IPKat here. A critical mass of ten takers is needed, so that participants won't feel too terrorised by the faculty ...

Good legal writing here , here and here