Monday miscellany
Back online after his bereavement, IPKat team member Jeremy would like to thank the many readers who have written to offer him their condolences, including some whom he has not yet had the chance to meet personally. He has been greatly comforted by their kind words, which have given him strength and encouragement as he returns to his regular activities.
IPReg, the United Kingdom's regulatory body for patent and trade mark attorneys, came to life on 1 January 2010 -- a public holiday. IPReg has been set up by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA), and its grown-up name is the Intellectual Property Regulation Board. The IPKat wonders whether it should be pronounced with a hard "g" since that letter is part of the word "Regulation", or with a soft "g" since "Reg" without the prefix "IP" would normally be pronounced "j", to rhyme with "Veg". You can visit IPReg's website here, find registered patent and trade mark attorneys respectively here and here, and discover what to do when things go wrong here (bad news for professionals -- this page is for the clients).
This little fella is the face of the future, and he will soon be replacing the IPKat logo which has graced this weblog for the past six and a half years. If nothing else, the change will spare the team the inconvenience of answering readers' queries as to whether the IPKat is in any way related to Top Cat (he isn't). Later in the week, Merpel and the AmeriKat will be unveiled, so watch this space ...
A quick reminder: there are just 10 days left in which to enter the IPKat's Proverbs competition (closing date, 14 January). For details of the competition click here and scroll down to 'Proverbs is the name of the game'. The prize: complimentary admission to CLT's annual IP Round-Up conference on 28 January and the proverbial free lunch!.
IPReg, the United Kingdom's regulatory body for patent and trade mark attorneys, came to life on 1 January 2010 -- a public holiday. IPReg has been set up by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA), and its grown-up name is the Intellectual Property Regulation Board. The IPKat wonders whether it should be pronounced with a hard "g" since that letter is part of the word "Regulation", or with a soft "g" since "Reg" without the prefix "IP" would normally be pronounced "j", to rhyme with "Veg". You can visit IPReg's website here, find registered patent and trade mark attorneys respectively here and here, and discover what to do when things go wrong here (bad news for professionals -- this page is for the clients).
This little fella is the face of the future, and he will soon be replacing the IPKat logo which has graced this weblog for the past six and a half years. If nothing else, the change will spare the team the inconvenience of answering readers' queries as to whether the IPKat is in any way related to Top Cat (he isn't). Later in the week, Merpel and the AmeriKat will be unveiled, so watch this space ...
A quick reminder: there are just 10 days left in which to enter the IPKat's Proverbs competition (closing date, 14 January). For details of the competition click here and scroll down to 'Proverbs is the name of the game'. The prize: complimentary admission to CLT's annual IP Round-Up conference on 28 January and the proverbial free lunch!.
