Congratulations, Richard!

So preoccupied has the IPKat been in his sundry activities that he quite forgot to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's birthday this year. This means that he also forgot to check Her Majesty's Birthday Honours List. When his memory was jogged into belated action, he was delighted to discover that his friend (and indeed the friend of many of us) Richard Abnett has been honoured to be elevated to the rank and status of an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Why? The text explains, "For services to Intellectual Property Rights".

The IPKat salutes Richard on this honour, which scarcely reflects the vast amount of effort, energy and careful thought that Richard has donated to the intellectual property community not just in the United Kingdom but internationally. Merpel adds, after 40 years with the same firm of patent and trade mark attorneys, Reddie & Grose, Richard has probably also earned the title Ever Reddie ...