The UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law recently announced its courses for Winter and Spring 2020. They will all be held at the UCL Faculty of Laws, Bentham House, 4-6 Endsleigh Gardens, London, WC1H 0EG, and early bird tickets are available for all of the events until 21 days before the course. You can find further details on each of the events in the links below:

• Tuesday 11 February 2020, 9:30am-5pm: Drafting and negotiating clinical trial agreements
• Tuesday 18 February 2020, 9:30am-5pm: Drafting and negotiating contracts with universities
• Tuesday 3 March 2020 or Tuesday 2 June 2020 (both from 9am-5pm): Contract Drafting Skills Workshop
• Monday 20 April - Friday 24 April 2020: IP Transactions: Law and Practice 2020. Note that the course application deadline is Friday 28 February 2020, and only a few places remain.
• Tuesday 12 May 2020, 9am-5pm: Drafting and negotiating IP terms in research contracts
• Tuesday 19 May 2020, 9:30am-5pm: P Licensing: An advanced level drafting workshop
• Tuesday 26 May 2020, 9am-5pm: Introduction to Contracts
• Tuesday 9 June 2020, 9am-5pm: Drafting "legal" clauses in commercial contracts

Bucerius IP Lecture Series
On 25 February 2020 at 7:00 pm, Bucerius Law School in Hamburg will host a lecture delivered by The IPKat's own Eleonora Rosati, on the topic of 'Brexit through the Lens of UK Copyright'. Here's the abstract:

On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom formally left the European Union, though Brexit will not display its real effects until IP Completion Day, that is 31 December 2020. As things currently stand, after that date and among other things, UK courts will in principle no longer be bound by decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), nor will they be able to refer new cases to the CJEU. This apparent freedom might translate in a different approach of UK legislature and courts to key IP issues. By using UK copyright as a case study, this talk will consider to what extent this is however likely to be the case, especially in the absence of a major overhaul of the relevant statute.

If you wish to sign up, click here.

Bird & Bird's Triple Book Launch

In celebration of the launch of 3 major books (all published by Sweet & Maxwell) from the Bird & Bird life sciences, internet and data protection teams, Bird & Bird will be holding an event on 27 February 2020, from 6 - 9pm, at its London office at 12 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1JP. The books launched include:

• Life Sciences and Intellectual Property: Law & Practice (1st Edition) by Patrick Kelleher;
• Internet Law and Regulation (5th Edition) by Graham Smith; and
• Data Protection Strategy: Implementing Data Protection Compliance (3rd Edition) by Ruth Boardman and Richard Morgan

CIPIL 15th Annual Intellectual Property Lecture

Professor Arti K. Rai (Elvin R. Larry Professor of Law, Duke Law School) will deliver the fifteenth annual intellectual property lecture on 10 March 2020 on 'Patents and Trade Secrecy in AI: The Case of Health'. This is an invitation-only event - if you would like an invitation, please contact the CIPIL Administrator at cipil@law.cam.ac.uk.

BPIP Annual Conference 2020
This year's 'Best Practices in Intellectual Property' Conference 2020 (held on 23 and 24 March 2020) will bring global decision makers and international IP stars to Tel Aviv to ensure you are updated on the IP global issues, trends and legislation that affect your company's IP. Master classes will also be held, covering topics including Big Data and AI and litigation financing for patent suits. It will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Tel Aviv, and you can find further information here.

... That's a lot of IP events to sink your teeth into...

EPO Search Matters 2020
The European Patent Office is organising its annual event 'Search Matters', where attendees (patent search professionals from business, academia and IP firms) can meet EPO examiners to gain an insight into how they tackle the complex task of searching the ever expanding prior art. This year's Search Matters conference aims to deliver workshops and lectures with a special focus on disruptive technologies such as 3D printing/additive manufacturing, AI and CII (computer-implemented inventions). Additionally, during their popular “at-the-desk” sessions, a limited number of pre-registered participants will have the opportunity to talk to examiners individually and gather first-hand information about their search strategies in specific technical areas.

The event will be held from 11-13 May 2020, at The Hague, Netherlands, and you can find further information, including programme details and how to register (in the side bar), here.


Call For Papers

Call for Papers - 12th Annual Conference on Innovation and Communications Law
The Center of IP, Media and Innovation Law (Danube University Krems) and the IT | IP Law Group (Vienna University of Economics and Business) will jointly host and organize the 12th Annual Conference on Innovation and Communications Law (CICL) on 7 and 8 May 2020 at venues in Vienna and Krems (Austria). (Note that for speakers, the social program is complementary and there will be no conference fee for academics.)


Extended Deadline - Call for papers - International Conference celebrating the 40th Anniversary of CRIDS: "Time to Re-shape the Digital Society"
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of CRIDS (Centre de recherche information, droit et société - Information, Law and Society Research Centre), is organising an international conference: "Time to Re-Shape the Digital Society" which will take place on Thursday 2nd July and Friday 3 July 2020; as well as an international summer school to take place on Tuesday 30 June and Wednesday 1 July 2020. (This will be held in Namur, Belgium, and you can find out how to register here.)

As part of the conference, which will assemble those from all over the world and from different disciplines to reflect on a future framework for the development of a better digital society, many slots are open to researchers and practitioners through this call for papers. Cutting-edge papers, delivering vision and insight, are welcome from all fields covered at the CRIDS and the NADI: law; communication and digital media education philosophy and ethics; computer sciences; and management.

Abstracts should be submitted by 15 March 2020, and you can read further information here.


IP News

The Intellectual Property Office updates IP guidance ready for the transition period to 31 December 2020
The UK Intellectual Property Office has updated its guidance for when the UK departs from the EU on 31 January 2020. The guidance, entitled 'Intellectual Property and the Transition Period', will be available not view on the IPO website here, and you can find an overview of the guidance here.

Are you an outstanding individual with expertise in intellectual property law and the ambition to contribute to the further development of the School’s Centre for Business Law and Practice? Do you want to be part of a thriving law school in a Russell Group University? Are you passionate about delivering world-leading research and an exceptional student experience? 

The School of Law at Leeds is a successful, collegial law school strongly committed to achieving excellence in both student education and research. They are looking to appoint to a lectureship in intellectual property law, a person who shares our commitment to collegiality and excellence in research and education.

Application closing date: Sunday 16 February 2020. Click here to apply 

Date: 30 January 2020
Time: 5-7PM

Place: Middlesex University The Burroughs London NW4 4BT United Kingdom
Speakers: Pure Evil, well known London street artist, as well as several contributors

In recent years, the number of conflicts related to the misuse of street art and graffiti has been on the rise around the world. Some cases involve claims of misappropriation related to corporate advertising campaigns, while others entail the destruction or 'surgical' removal of street art from the walls on which they were created. In this work, Enrico Bonadio brings together a group of experts to provide the first comprehensive analysis of issues related to copyright in street art and graffiti. Chapter authors shed light not only on the legal tools available in thirteen key jurisdictions for street and graffiti artists to object to unauthorized exploitations and unwanted treatments of their works, but also offer policy and sociological insights designed to spur further debate on whether and to what extent the street art and graffiti subcultures can benefit from copyright and moral rights protection.

Please book via EventBrite 

Date: 11 March 2020
Time: 6-7 PM

Place: UCL Faculty of Laws, Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens, London WC1H 0EG
Panellists: Emma Himsworth QC (Appointed Person), Judge Ian Forrester (General Court, Court of Justice of the European Union), The Hon Lord Justice Arnold
Chair: The Rt Hon Professor Sir Robin Jacob

UCL's Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL) and MARQUES, the European Association of Trade Mark Owners invite you to put your questions to some of the judges that are – or were until recently – deciding our trade mark disputes. Panellists will answer a set of pre-selected questions from the audience.

Please book via this link

EUIPO Academic Webinars, 2020 

This year’s programme of Tuesday webinars hosted by the EUIPO Academy kicks off on 14 January with an overview of General Court and CJEU decisions of the trimester.
The webinar is in English and runs from 10:00 am to 11:00 am (Spanish time). Webinars already scheduled include:

- 14 January: Overview of General Court and CJEU decisions of the trimester.
- 21 January: (1) New EUIPO Guidelines and (2) IPR-intensive industries and economic performance in the EU
- 28 January: (1) Likelihood of confusion and (2) Changes in the 12th edition of the Locarno Classification
- 4 February: Case Law on Community Design
- 11 February: Absolute grounds for refusal – shape of goods
- 25 February: IPR and Video Games (Joint EUIPO-EPO Interactive Webinar)

All are free to join, and the recordings can be viewed soon after they take place. For more details about the topics, timings, speakers, languages and how to join, visit the EUIPO Academy Learning Portal.

INSYNC 2020
Date: 26 February 2020
Place: The Brewery, London EC1Y 4SD

Incopro is hosting INSYNC: 2020, a forum dedicated to the collaboration of brands to drive change in intellectual property and brand protection. The day will feature numerous sessions led by leaders and practitioners from brands themselves. If you’re part of an in-house team and want to share (or learn) ideas, more information can be found here, and for any queries please contact: insync.events@incoproip.com. “

A registered participant may submit issues for eventual discussion during the seminar, either by e-mail: hagueseminar.mail@wipo.int, or through the Contact Hague page Alternatively, you may get in touch with Mr. Max Germeil, Associate Market Analyst, Hague Development and Promotion Section, The Hague Registry, Brands and Designs Sector, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (T. 41223388526; email: max.germeil@wipo.int).

The Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (ARCIALA), School of Law, Singapore Management University, teaming up with the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong, will co-host the 5th Asian IP Works-in-Progress Conference on January 9th and 10th 2020 in City University of Hong Kong.

Presentation proposals that cover at least two Asian jurisdictions will be preferred. Interested colleagues please submit the title of the proposed presentation, an abstract of 300 words and CV in a Word document before October 15th, 2019 to arciala@smu.edu.sg.

To promote and encourage the study of Asian IP laws for the betterment of IP regimes in Asia, ARCIALA has secured funding for a total of 25-28 speakers in the form of Asian IP Scholar Awards and Young Asian IP Scholar Awards (for PhD and graduate students), which includes return tickets and accommodation of three nights (excluding visa fees). Colleagues interested in applying for the awards need to submit an abstract and CV in a Word document with an outline of 800 words (instead of the 300 word abstract) before October 15th, 2019 to arciala@smu.edu.sg. The selected paper proposals will be uploaded and displayed on the ARCIALA website https://arciala.smu.edu.sg. 

For more information: here

The IP & Innovation Researchers of Asia (IPIRA) Network is pleased to announce the Second IP & Innovation Researchers of Asia (IPIRA) Conference, which will be held on 27th -28th February 2020 at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This Conference is organized by the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia in collaboration with Texas A&M University School of Law, and the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). 

The IPIRA Conference is an initiative created to provide a forum for academics and other researchers to present and discuss their papers and works-in-progress with colleagues from other universities, policy makers, and other stakeholders. The scientific organizers welcome submissions by senior, mid-career, and junior academics writing on topics related to IP law-related issues in Asian law, international law, and comparative law

The deadline to submit an abstract and a request to present is 30th October 2019.

There will be no registration fee or any other costs associated with attending the Second IPIRA Conference. However, all presenters must cover their own travel-related and accommodation expenses. The organizers are working to secure funds to partially assist a limited number of researchers with financial needs from developing countries in Asia.