1. The recent World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) meeting concluded late last week, which focused on non-traditional marks (3D marks, color marks, hologram marks, etc.), trademark opposition procedures, and new topics including letters of consent and collective marks. The week-long meeting was attended by representatives of 72 member states.

WIPO Announcement: LINK
WIPO SCT Webpage: LINK

2. The introductory program documentation for the European Patent Forum and PATINNOVA 2009 & Inventor of the Year seminar to be held in April 2009 are now available on the European Patent Office website (link below). Initial information on several seminars and dozens of workshops are available including several recent “hot” patent topics from this past year.

EPO Seminar Webpage: LINK

3. The Daily Dose of IP Blog was recently highlighted within Kevin O’Keefe’s blog “REAL LAWYERS HAVE BLOGS,” which focuses on the law, law firm marketing, blogs, and other topics. Kevin also prepared a series of charts to graphically show how legal blogs are branded and the blogging services used to prepare those blogs. If you have an interest in legal blogging, the article linked below will be of particular interest to you.

RLHB Article: LINK