Friday fantasies

The IPKat's side bar contains news of lots of forthcoming events, so please remember to check them out! One such event is the 24th Annual MARQUES Conference in Berlin, which is now open for registration. All the details are on the MARQUES website here.


Around the websites. Copyright Debate is the name of a rather good website which has been developed by The Stationers' Company to celebrate the 300th anniversary year of the Statute of Anne (according to the view that 1710 is the right year, adds the 1709 Blog). The website, says the Company, "is a professional resource for those seeking information on the importance and value of Copyright to the UK‘s Creative Industries. It contains articles and submissions by leading industry practitioners, lawyers and academics with practical experience of the importance of Copyright in the UK and the challenges to be faced with the development of the digital usage of copyright material. It will be of use to all who work in or have interest in the protection of intellectual property whether they be working in the sector, legislators academic and professional commentators or students".

Blog news, not that there's much of it ... This week Afro Leo let out a hearty roar at the news that the Afro-IP specialist African intellectual property weblog had posted its 800th news item. 800 searchable items (you can word-search the site, using the little box in the top left hand corner of the blog's front page) may not sound vast over two-and-a-bit years, particularly when you consider how many countries there are in Africa -- but it is a big step towards improved accessibility of current information and also helps kick-start some good debate.

General Election News. Various UK intellectual personalities have been standing for election to Parliament. Hamish Sandison (Field Fisher Waterhouse) was runner-up in Monmouth, as did Serena Tierney in Mid-Sussex. Outgoing Minister for Universities and Intellectual Property David Lammy retained his seat in Tottenham, though as things stand at present he may be exchanging his ministerial career for a spell on the Opposition benches. Dominic Carman, who in a former life was the publisher of Managing Intellectual Property magazine, came in fourth in Barking, and it was also a poor night for the Pirate Party UK, whose leader Andrew Robinson ran seventh in Worcester. You can check the results in each constituency, as well as the current state of the all the parties, on the BBC website here.

Super TED rides again? TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the online version of the 'Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union', dedicated to European public procurement. It provides free access to business opportunities. Updated five times a week, it carried approximately 1,500 public procurement notices from the European Union, the European Economic Area and beyond. Unlike decisions of the Court of Justice and OHIM, "information about every procurement document is published in the 23 official EU languages. All notices from the European Union's institutions are published in full in these languages". Hmmm! Still, this is where you'll get information about EU tenders for IP work. The Kat thanks his knowledgeable friend Sheila Draper for this link.