New judge on the block

Amid all the excitement of the past few days the IPKat quite forgot to congratulate Christopher Floyd QC on his appointment as judge in the Patents Court - part of the Chancery Division - in England and Wales. Christopher, of 11 South Square, has practised in all fields of intellectual property law, with particular emphasis on patent cases in all technical disciplines.

The IPKat and Merpel join in respectfully wishing him the very best of luck in his new appointment, with the hope that he will take a ruggedly interventionist and proactive role in case management for the benefit of all disputing parties. Christopher's greatest hits include

* Celltech v MedImmune [2004] EWCA Civ 1331
* Ivax Pharmaceuticals (UK) v Astrazeneca AB [2004] EWHC 1264 (Ch)
* Russell Finex v Telsonic [2004] EWHC 474 (Ch)
* Cairnstores v Aktiebolaget Hassle [2002] EWCA Civ 1504 - this is one of the IPKat's favourites, when the losers tried to have the trial judge hung, drawn and quartered for (i) being on the winning party's side and (ii) rabidly attacking a pet witness for the losers.