IP and Fashion Conference: limerick competition winner

The limerick competition took the IPKat a lot longer to read than he anticipated because (i) he received over 60 entries—a record for any of his competitions—and also because he was smitten by a nasty attack of deja-vu. The opening line was “There once was a fashionable Kat” and it didn’t take competitors long to realise that the word “Kat” rhymes with ‘hat’, ‘fat’, ‘rat’ and ‘prat’. So many budding IP poets were thinking along the same lines that it was at times quite difficult to recall which limerick was which.

Right: Kats don't come much more fashionable than Toodle (whom you can buy via handmadefinds here)

Several entrants took issue with the opening line on the basis that it possessed one syllable too many. The IPKat wrote back to explain that, like many people nowadays, he pronounces the word “fashionable” as a trisyllable (i.e. = “fash’nable”). This did not placate all correspondents, but some adopted the deviant spelling in their own efforts.

Among the best efforts were these:

Adrian Bradley (fJ Cleveland)
There once was a fashionable Kat,
Involved in a trade mark spat.
Three stripes he wore,
Instead of the four.
He should've; now he's a fur hat.

Ruth Soetendorp (IP scholar and activist)
There once was a fash'n'ble Kat
With cutting-edge coat, shoes and hat.
Asked 'how are you able
To buy the real label?'
Said 'I NEVER bother with that!'

Graeme Fearon (Thring Townsend)
There once was a fashionable Kat
whose dressed from the souks of Herat -
more Farsi Afghani
than Giorgio Armani,
but a kaftan is soooo where it’s at.

But the winner -- who gets the Star Prize of complimentary entrance to the Third Annual Intellectual Property Law and the Fashion Industry conference, organised by CLT for Tuesday 23 September --is the highly competitive and extremely talented Patricia Edwards (20 Essex Street), who mixes wit with painful pathos. Patricia's winning entry runs like this:

There once was a fashionable Kat
Who fasted ‘til practically flat.
If it weren’t for her fur
She’d be only a purr
Rising pitifully out of her mat.

Honourable mentions

Not all the people who deserve honourable mentions are going to get them here, because quite a few of them opted for anonymity. In some cases this was wise, since it was apparent that they had been composing while ostensibly at work, and in some cases possibly after a longer-than-usual lunch down at the pub.

Right: exhausted by the effort of writing limericks, Mr Tiddles takes a little nap ...

However, the IPKat is pleased to commend the efforts of epic poet Ania Ochmanska, whose efforts were reflected in both quality and quantity; Howard Knopf, whose entries reflected his breadth of knowledge as well as his drafting abilities; the linguistically-minded Barbara Lauriat; Rebecca Tilbury, whose career in trade marks will doubtless go far if she pens her submissions to OHIM in an appropriately appealing verse format; the socially conscious Lucky Belder; the exuberantly original Denise McFarland—and the indefatigable Sally Cooper. Well done, all of you!

For the record, details of the conference can be found here. If you didn't win but would like to attend anyway, it's still not too late ...