Forthcoming events

Here's a reminder that next Monday, 8 October, a one-day event, Intellectual Property Litigation and Dispute Resolution: the latest law, procedure and good practice, takes place at the Hatton Conference Centre, London.

Right: a business's IP deterrence and enforcement policy may look pretty ferocious, but how will it fare in court?

The programme includes the following delicious attractions:

* Respected elder of the IP community Tony Willoughby (founder of Rouse Legal) asks some probing questions concerning domain name disputes and offers some illustrative war stories;

* Big-hitting star IP litigator Larry Cohen (McDermott Will & Emery) takes his tool-kit to the machinery of justice in IP litigation and exposes some nuts and bolts;

* Victoria Pynchon (Settle it Now!) and M. Nicole Marcey (Chan Law Group, Los Angeles) bring some fresh new American ideas on alternative dispute resolution for IP to Europe;

* The impending threats/opportunities of class actions are considered by Andrew Mills (head of IP&T at Freeth Cartwright).

IPKat team blogger Jeremy will be in the chair, seeking to guarantee a really good day's fun - and lots of hard thinking too. See you there?

Full programme and booking details here.


Intellectual Property and the Internet: maximising the opportunities and minimising the risk is another CLT one-day event held in London on 6 November. Attractions include the following:

* Lucy Sladojevic (Harbottle & Lewis) considers the legal niceties of pop-ups, metatags, banners and online advertising;

* Olswang partner and leading author Clive Gringras takes a practical look at the issues involved in typosquatting: what drives this illicit industry and how can it be kept in check?

* Aaron Wood (Simmons & Simmons) identifies key IP and privacy issues that arise from Facebook and other social networking phenomena;

* David Naylor (Field Fisher Waterhouse) explains how Second Life and other MMORPGs can impact on existing IP rights as well as create scope for new rights.

Once again, since this event is supported by the IPKat, team blogger Jeremy will be in the chair.

Full programme and registration details here.


The Intellectual Property Institute, London, is holding a seminar on Wednesday 24 October at the office of solicitors Slaughter and May. The title is "Puzzling Questions...": Claim practice in the European Patent Office that is too favourable to the Patentee? and the speaker is leading patent attorney Tim Roberts, of Roberts & Co. The event, chaired by Boult Wade Tennant's Claire Baldock, begins at 4.30pm for 5pm, with Q&A at 6pm. What's the puzzle all about? The IPI's blurb explains:

"Concern has been expressed in several quarters (not necessarily ideologically committed against intellectual property systems) that patent offices sometimes grant claims that are unjustifiably broad in scope, and hence damaging to competition and technical and economic progress. The European Patent Office is often considered to have a relatively good record in this respect: counter-examples will be discussed, as well as possible remedies. In a sub-category of 'over-broad claim' are (it will be argued) certain claims arising from EPO practice on 'product-by-process' claims, whose effective scope, potentially extremely wide, may also be extremely difficult to determine".

The fee for attendance is £20 for IPI members, £50 for non-members other than students, and nothing at all for students - but anyone who attends must register first with IPI administrator Anne Goldstein, having first completed the registration form.