Peer-to-patent; Patent-to-professors; Request for help

The IPKat's must-read Patently-O blog has recorded that the exciting Peer-to-Patent project is now being trialled in the United States. If you want to participate, throwing prior art and crafty comments concerning patentability in the general direction of the first five patent applications that are up for inspection, filed by Peer-to-Patent supporters GE, HP, Intel, IBM and Red Hat, here's your chance. The IPKat says, if this doesn't help produce better quality granted patents, saving money and taking pressure of the USPTO's much-criticised examiners, I'd be most surprised. Merpel says, this project has the potential to be really good, if the facility is not abused by those who wish to use it. Let's hope that members of the public discharge their sacred duty of sinking undeserving patents with dignity.


The European Patent Academy (EPA) - which is part of the European Patent Office (EPO) - has been created to promote and support education and training in patent-related intellectual property. One of the EPA's main goals is to cooperate with universities in disseminating and improving IP knowledge within science, engineering, law and economics/business/innovation management faculties. As a first step, the EPA wants to initiate direct contact with teaching staff in order to share best practices and further develop projects and activities such as

* creation/implementation of courses on IP designed to be integrated in the curricula of science, law and economics/business/innovation management faculties;

* producing teaching and learning materials;

* specific training for teaching and TTO staff.

If you are interested in this, the EPA asks you to get in touch and give details of (i) your university and specific faculty/department; (ii) if applicable, which kind of IP course(s) you already teach, with a short description of its main features, and/or (iii) if your university/faculty is considering integrating IP courses into the curricula, in which programme of study would this be. For general information about the EPO, the Academy and its activities, visit its web pages at http://academy.epo.org/ or contact Giovanna Oddo, Unit Manager Academia & IP Research Academia D. 5.4.2, European Patent Academy, European Patent Office Erhardtstr. 27 80469 Munich Germany Tel. +49 (0)89 2399 5015 Mobile +49 (0)163 8399699. Says the IPKat, this looks promising - but is there a need to coordinate this initiative, or at least to exchange information - with ATRIP, the international body for teachers and researchers in intellectual property law?


The IPKat is asking around on behalf of a damsel in distress, who is seeking to write an article on "Leveraging Collective Marks in Tourism"; she knows a good deal about the wider policy and business/commercial dimensions of the subject but seeks a lawyer or legal scholar to help her in dealing with the specifically legal aspects of the topic.

It is hoped that the article will be submitted for publication - subject to peer approval - in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (JIPLP). If you're interested, can you email IPKat team blogger Jeremy here and he'll forward your expression of interest.