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IPcopy in 2013 – our top ten posts
Welcome to 2014!
An interesting year for Intellectual Property developments is before us with further progress on the unitary patent expected and the possibility that the US Supreme Court will weigh in again on the issue of patent eligibility with the recent referral of the Alice/CLS decision.
However, before all that we thought we’d take a quick look at the most popular posts on IPcopy in 2013. (more…)
The twelve patents of Christmas
Felix was not impressed with his festive headgear and began plotting a messy end for his owner’s favourite shoes
IPcopy will be taking a Christmas hiatus while we all eat too much food and watch Doctor Who, so you will all have to make do without us for a week or two. In case anyone finds themselves in need of an IP-fix over the Christmas period, we’ll leave something to keep you entertained.
And what could possibly be more festive than a good Christmassy invention? Well – twelve Christmasy inventions set to music, that’s what!
All together now: On the first day of Christmas my patent attorney gave to me…
IP Hit or Miss? Code Monkey Save World
Cover art: Code Monkey Save World Issue 2. Reproduced with permission from Greg Pak (Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa; Colourist: Jessica Kholinne. http://www.codemonkeycomix.com)
Warning: minor spoilers to follow
The Kickstarter-funded graphic novel series, Code Monkey Save World by Greg Pak, tells the story of the eponymous coding monkey, Charles, as he teams up with a lovelorn super-villain (somewhat reminiscent of Dr Horrible in Joss Whedon’s Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), following the enslavement of Charles’s human co-workers (including his office crush) by Robo-Queen Laura.
The second instalment of the series published earlier this month and features the origin story of the super-villain, Skullcrusher. As they wait for the computer systems in Skullcrusher’s lair to reboot, Skullcrusher explains to Charles that he found his “true talents really revolve around patent law”.
Keltie is 25!
Team photo (embiggenable)
25 years ago, on 12th December 1988, David Keltie Associates started its life with David Keltie and Rosemary Cardas. Last weekend, to mark our 25th birthday, virtually the entire firm decamped to the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland for a couple of days of celebration, reflections on the journey the firm has made so far and predictions for the journey still to come.
IP News Nuggets
Here’s a selection of IP related news articles that caught the eye of IPcopy in the last few days. (more…)
UK: Intellectual Property Bill – Date of 2nd reading in Commons announced
Parliamentary copyright images are reproduced with the permission of Parliament
A brief update on the Intellectual Property Bill. The Parliament website has just been updated with a date, 9th December 2013, for the Bill’s second reading in the House of Commons. The current version of the Bill, as brought from the Lords, can be found here.
The first reading of a Bill in the House of Commons is usally a formality and takes place without debate. The second reading of the Bill rsepresents the first time that MPs can debate the general purpose of the Bill. Individual clauses and amendments will be covered in the next stage, Committee stage.
Update (10.12.13): the 9th December session in the House of Commons was devoted to tributes to Nelson Mandela. It is IPcopy’s understanding that the second reading of the IP Bill will now occur after the Christmas break.
Mark Richardson 29 November 2013
Scotland’s future & IP
The Scottish government released its White Paper on Wednesday mapping out Alex Salmond’s vision for an independent Scotland. The full 670-page report is available here and it details “the most comprehensive blueprint for an independent country ever published” (BBC). Whether that’s completely accurate or not I guess only time will tell but a quick skim seems to suggest that it could be summarised as “anything that we’ve got now that’s good, we’ll keep. Everything else will be better.”
Buried deep within the White Paper in the Q&A section of Part 5 are a couple of references to intellectual property.
Movember patents: Top five moustache-related patents
It’s Movember folks! The time of year when gentlemen around the world cultivate facial topiary to raise money for excellent causes. And so that they can look dashing, of course.
IPCopy is celebrating Movember with a run-down of our favourite moustache-related patents. Why some of these products are no longer available for purchase in a gentleman’s fashion establishment near you is a total mystery…
Are these patents the key to the next revolution in 3D printing?
In recent years, 3D printing has entered the mainstream lexicon, partly due to increased media coverage and partly because 3D printers are becoming more affordable and accessible. In particular, the rise of desktop 3D printers aimed at the domestic market such as the MakerBot Replicator and 3D Systems Cube have been a boon for hobbyists and early adopters. These printers are sold ready to use out of the box for simplicity compared to early affordable solutions which were self-assemble kits like the MakerGear Mosaic or the open source RepRap Mendel.
Typically, low cost domestic 3D printers, including those mentioned above, use an additive manufacturing technique called Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) to create objects. FDM involves a heated nozzle extruding thermoplastic into successive layers to build up a desired object.
The McKinsey Global Institute, The Economist and Quartz, along with many others, cite the expiration of certain patents related to FDM in 2009 as enabling the recent proliferation of cheaper FDM 3D printers. They go on to anticipate that the expiration of key patents related to another additive manufacturing technique, selective laser sintering, in 2014 may lead to another step change in the field of 3D printing.
But what are these key patents that everyone’s talking about, and will they really make such a big impact?
IPcopy’s Odds & Sods: Acronym soup – EPO/APAA/AIPLA
The EPO has launched a consultation to ensure the Case Law of the Boards of Appeal continues to meet the needs of users. The consultation runs for a while (closing date: 31 March 2014) and can be accessed here. The most recent version of the Case Law Book (the 7th version) has only just been released of course and can be found here.
Some acronym heavy overseas meetings next up:
1) 
The Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) 62nd Council Meeting is to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam from 19-22 October. Shakeel Ahmad and Dev Crease from Keltie LLP will be in attendance so if you see them please say hello. Details of the meeting can be found here.
2) The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) will be holding its 2013 AIPLA Annual Meeting from 24-26 October in Washington, D.C. Michael Moore and Mark Richardson from Keltie LLP will be going along and are looking forward to the conference. AIPLA has a twitter hashtag for the more social media minded attendees to use and the marketing material suggests we include the hashtag #aiplaAM13 to be a part of the conversation!
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