BOLLINGER COUNTY BLUES; BOOK LAUNCH

Bollinger County Blues

The IPKat, a happy wine-drinker, has spotted an obscure piece of Eurolegislation that will be of great interest to all oenophiles. It's Commission Regulation 1416/2006 of 26 September 2006 laying down specific rules on the implementation of Article 7(2) of the Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America on trade in wine concerning the protection of US names of origin in the Community. You can read all about it here, if you're that way inclined. The exciting bit goes like this:

"Article 1

1. The US names of origin listed in the Annex may be used as names of origin for wine only to designate wines of the origin indicated by such name. The competent authorities of the Member States shall take measures to ensure that any wine not labelled in conformity with this Article is not placed on or is withdrawn from the market until it is labelled in conformity with this Article.

2. Paragraph 1 shall not:

(a) affect intellectual property rights existing in the Community or the use of the sign protected as an intellectual property right in the course of trade in the Community before the date of entry into force of this Regulation;

(b) prevent measures, as appropriate, to allow the use of homonymous names of origin where consumers will not be misled or to allow a person to use, in the course of trade, that person’s name or the name of that person’s predecessor in business in a manner that does not mislead the consumer".

There follows a long list of American wine names that European wine growers can no longer steal with impunity. This list includes such potentially sensitive names - for Europeans - as Switzerland County, Bollinger County (could this be related to the real bubbly, Merpel wonders?) and Shannon County - which might be particularly perplexing to those who seek after Irish wine.

Visit Bollinger County here
Irish wine geese here


Book launch

Last week the IPKat mentioned Paul Cole's excellent book on patent drafting. Well, here's a little announcement from the publishers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA):

"On 17 October (next Tuesday) we are holding an event at our offices at 95 Chancery Lane to celebrate this book. This event is free (drinks and light refreshments) and will include a discussion to show how developments in case law have necessitated a publication of this nature and to illustrate the pitfalls of sloppy drafting. Speakers include: Judge Fysh QC on cautionary tales from the bar; Ron Marchant on drafting howlers and Paul Cole himself on how drafting has changed since Micklethwait.

More details can be seen here. Or places can be booked via Charlotte Field".