A press-ing problem

This Kat receives a lot of press releases (this seems to be the old-fashioned name for what many folk have now 'rebranded' as media releases) from many sources -- public sector bodies, IP-owning businesses, companies that provide services for IP owners and their advisors, publishers, law firms and firms of patent and trade mark attorneys. Some stand alone; others are accompanied by circulars or even individualised emails asking, begging or ordering the IPKat to publicise their contents.

A small number are excellent. However, most are dreadful and the Kat never uses them. A check of search engine news features indicates that most other publishers -- both online and in traditional format -- don't use them either. It's obvious that something (or lots of things) go badly wrong, if you consider that good money is spent in drafting and sending out information that is often badly prepared, poorly distributed, unused and unmonitored.

This autumn, if there is enough demand, this member of the IPKat team will organise a little session (estimated length, two hours), for people who want to improve their intellectual property press release techniques. The proposed course will tackle some of the most egregious problems and suggest how to deal with them, also offering a chance to do a little practical exercise based on a "news item" which will be circulated in advance.

The likely cost will be £100 plus VAT. If you're interested, email me here with the subject-line "IP press releases". I'll need at least ten responses to make it worth preparing the materials and hiring a venue.

Illustration from All-free-download here