Monday miscellany

Forthcoming events.  Do please remember to check out the IPKat's Forthcoming Events list for lectures, seminars, conferences and other opportunities to get out and about, meet people and use IP as a perfect ice-breaker for those otherwise stressful conversations with strangers.  The page is here, at your disposal. Enjoy!

On the subject of forthcoming events, the IPKat never misses a chance to rub noses with other Kats of note, so his tail started twitching when he heard that the IP Ball 2015 has been announced: its theme is a celebration of the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland.  What Kat would turn down the chance to party with the Cheshire Kat himself? Happening on 18 July 2015, in support of Great Ormond Street Hospital, with a drinks reception at 6 pm, a three-course dinner at 7 pm, and music and madness to follow, this Kat can't wait to don his DJ [though he may have to, since he'd have to diet for about three months to have a chance of squeezing into it] and share a milk bottle with the King of Grin himself. Tickets are £105 per person or £100 for CIPA student members.  Just email theipball@gmail.com with your name, your guest's name and your CIPA student number (if applicable) to get your claws on them.  Deadline for purchase is 5 July 2015, which leaves you plenty of time to primp and preen so as to be the most beautiful Kat at the ball! For more information visit www.facebook.com/theipball.  

From respected IP scholar and Katfriend Jacques de Werra (Law School, University of Geneva) comes news of an exciting international conference which he is organizing on June 17 and 18 on "Jurisdiction & Dispute Resolution in the Internet Era: Governance and Good Practices". This is part of the programme of the Internet l@w summer school). Though the footprint of the full programme runs wider than just IP, there is plenty for the IP purist to enjoy, such as jurisdiction in internet-related IP cases and FRAND patent disputes. For further details, just click through to the conference website here. Online registration can be achieved by clicking here.

Mei Eden: the Hebrew version
of the logo has the rainbow
running from right to left

Around the weblogs 1. Writing on the IP Factor weblog, the eponymous Michael Factor diverts his attention from patents to a fascinating piece of litigation in which the French custodians of the geographical indication Champagne won a major victory in Israel against Mei Eden, a local producer of mineral water which was marketed under the slogan "Nature's Champagne". The bottom line, it seems, is that you may not be able to to improve on nature, but you can at least get legal relief against it. Another compellingly fascinating post can be found on The IP Breakdown and it's by Rick Sanders. The title is "MCA Explainer: Why Chilling Effects Can Display Takedown Notices Complete with Pirate URLs" and, if you think the title's long, you should only see the blogpost which is virtually of law journal length. For all that, it reflects on the operation of Chilling Effects, for good or ill, and asks some uncomfortable questions about the world of DMCA takedown notices.  Returning from Barcelona, where he attended the the inaugural meeting of BioLawEurope, IP Draughts' mastermind Mark Anderson penned "You can’t always get what you want (from your lawyer)", reminds us there is a difference between "networking", which is a genteel euphemism for marketing oneself to total strangers, and creating a network, that is to say a grouping of like-minded practitioners who recognise their limitations and the ability of each to enhance the professional services of the others.

Around the weblogs 2. In "Of Copyright and Spiders", the 1709 Blog's Andy Johnstone explains why UK copyright could not be used as a basis for restraining the release of certain of Prince Charles's letters to the public, here. On the same weblog, one-time guest Kat Marie-Andrée Weiss asks the surprising question "Is Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection a Work of Art Protected by French Copyright?" and, remaining in France, Asim Singh ponders the prospects of a new approach to conflicts between pre-existing works and derivative works. Moving to the IP Finance blog, Keith Mallinson returns to one of his favourite subjects -- FRAND licences and the free market -- in "Masterminds Discuss Fair Play, Equitable Rewards and Market Success in Patents and Standards".