That Wedding ... and That Conference

In the olden days, before paparazzi were invented,
the popular press had a dreadful time getting wedding pics ...

A royal wedding is an exciting event – and not just for the friends and family of the couple. The wedding is now expected to give a £620 million boost to the economy, much of which will come from the sale of souvenirs and other memorabilia. But amidst all the excitement, the IPKat cautions his readers, it is important to ensure that IP rights are protected, whether this means preventing infringement of trade marks or design rights, protecting privacy or blocking (or, says Merpel, promoting) ambush marketing.

The Royal Wedding and IP conference which the Kat mentioned earlier this week is now nearly up and running.  There will be a competition, of course, and lots of serious law, plus CPD points for anyone who has to work for a legal living.  The programme will look something like this:


The Royal Wedding And British Business: Intellectual Property Perspectives

Date: 8 February 2011 (venue: not yet decided, but probably not Westminster Abbey)

IPKat team member Jeremy will be in the chair.  After the formal welcome, warnings about fire drill and good news for diners about the availability of a vegetarian option, the order of ceremonies goes as follows.

* Weddings, Coronations and other Royal Events: how do they bring IP business to Britain? (David Morris, WilmerHale)

* Royal trade marks in the UK and beyond (Julius Stobbs, Ipulse IP)

* Royal memorabilia: posters, mugs and other merchandise (Anna Carboni, Powell Gilbert)

* The Wedding on the Screen (Victoria Gaskell, Olswang LLP)

* The Wedding and the Newlyweds: privacy preserved, privacy sold (David Hansel, Hansel Henson)

* Ambush marketing (Philip Johnson, Queen Mary Intellectual Property Law Institute)

* The Wedding and the Fashion Sector (Nicola Solomon, Finers Stephens Innocent LLP)

Chairman's concluding remarks and questions, then provisionally off to the Melton Mowbray for a pleasant pint ...

The programme isn't printed yet, but it's just a matter of time.  If you want to be personally nudged when it's available, just email the IPKat here with the subject line "RoyalsWed".