"What's wrong with copyright?"; ACCA/IPI/ESRC report

"What's wrong with copyright?", you may well ask. Well, controversial copyright enthusiast and information science guru Professor Charles Oppenheim (Loughborough University) will be asking precisely that question at a forthcoming seminar organised by the Intellectual Property Institute on Thursday 19 July 2007, at the thoroughly respectable time of 4.30pm for 5.00pm. For those who feel faint at the end of the working day, refreshments will be provided.

The event will be hosted by Baker & McKenzie in that firm's London office (100 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6JA). If you want to come and listen, or merely have some grenades to lob, please contact the Institute and let it know, via the kind and patient Anne Goldstein whom you can email or, if modern technology lets you down, phone (020 7436 3040) or fax (020 7323 5312) - ideally completing the application form.

Left: Charles Oppenheim, caught in the act of using the university computer


While on the subject of the IPI, that organisation is one of the supporters of a publication, Intangible Assets and SMEs, a slim volume of just 16 pages, inclusive of white space and fancy artwork, that summarises the conclusions of a seminar run by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and the Economic and Social Research Council. According to the Introduction, which leads to a series of one-page features by specific interest rapporteurs,

"In February 2007, over 80 experts and interested parties gathered at the Department of Trade and Industry conference centre to discuss the issue of intangible assets and SMEs.

The piccie on the right is presumably intended to illustrate the theme of intangible assets and small/medium sized enterprises, since it appears on the cover.

The delegates, drawn from SME representative organisations, intellectual property professionals, financiers, government officials, accountants and other business advisers, were invited to join workshops that discussed a range of topics relating to intangible assets in SMEs. The seminar covered a broad range of topics including how SMEs use the formal intellectual property system, how advisers can support SMEs’ intangible assets and the use of intangible assets for accessing finance.

A clear consensus emerged from the discussions about the importance of these issues to both SMEs and the wider UK economy, and that this importance will inevitably grow over the years. It is therefore imperative that all parts of the SME community, especially the support community, cooperate to understand, create and protect SMEs’ intangible assets. This publication is a summary of the more detailed recommendations arising from the seminar discussions".

The IPKat isn't sure about ACCA's intellectual property credentials because, noting its global thrust, he wonders whether its actvities are likely to be confused with those of other organisations that inhabit the same set of letters. Air Conditioning Contractors of America is a case in point, the main difference in the eyes of many cynics being that the former generate a good deal of hot air while the latter are in business to cool it. Merpel adds, let's not forget the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art either ...

You can download this document, at absolutely no charge, from the IPI here