Strategic appointments; recent publications

The IPKat feels he ought to know the answer to this, but doesn't. A reader - who belongs to a smart international but London-based IP law practice - has emailed him to ask:

"Do you know when the proposed SABIP (Strategic Advisory Board on Intellectual Property) is being established? I understand they may advertise for members and I'm interested in seeing this advertisement".

Right: prospective members of SABIP engage in a charm offensive ...

The IPKat says, if anyone knows the answer can he or she please post it as a Comment below? Says Merpel, only a cynic would suggest that the advertisement will appear as soon as possible after the members have been appointed ...


The July-August issue of Euromoney's near-monthly Managing Intellectual Property arrived just as the IPKat was departing for a few days' break, so he didn't have a chance to contemplate its contents any earlier. As Kats go, the IPKat has a very stiff upper lip and wouldn't dream of sulking just because his name has been omitted - for the second year in succession, would you believe! - from the entertaining list of 50 Most Influential People in IP. He is however very happy to see the worthy Beth Noveck on the list: not merely because she is a fellow blogger but because of her involvement in the Peer-to-Patent Project which, he feels, has the potential to affect patents both nationally and internationally far more profoundly than any shifts in patent law or claim interpretation. MIP is also to be commended on its huge commitment to delivering readable and valuable information on developments in the various increasingly significant Asian jurisdictions - as this issue demonstrates with an instructive account of Danone's recent major mishap in China.

Contents of the current issue of MIP here

In the same postal delivery that brought his MIP there also arrived the current issue of the stylish and increasingly heavy Globe Business Publishing bimonthly World Trademark Review, also covering July and August. Not to be outdone by MIP's beauty parade of Most Influential IP Persons, WTR lists the winners of its Industry Awards for World's Greatest In-House IP Teams and Counsel: since the IPKat didn't qualify to enter that contest, defeat was no dishonour. Merpel notes that the honours went to, among others, Johnson & Johnson - whose potentially disastrous spat with the American Red Cross (see IPKat post here) occurred too late to perturb the result.

Other features in this issue include a review of non-traditional trade marks in a variety of jurisdictions - which leaves the IPKat wondering how long the term "non-traditional" will continue to be employed in respect of a species trade marks which have long been the traditional subject-matter of IP magazines and conferences, if not the traditional preferences of those businesses who are being begged to apply for them.

Contents of the current issue of WTR here