NIPC News

L'Academie de Coiffure French satirical print from the 18th century Source Wikipedia Jane Lambert I found rather more materials on IP and hair and beauty industry than I had expected when I started to read the trade literature.  Sabrina Tozzi and Rachel Boakes of Baker & McKenzie LLP have contributed  IP and the beauty industry: cosmetic concerns? to Issue 50 of  IP Pro Life Sciences (12 Aug 2015).  Elaine Eggington of IP Pragmatics Ltd, has posted an interesting presentation entitled  Innovation in the cosmetics industry   to her company's website. There are also articles about free wifi with its implications for copyright and data protection in a discussion on free wifi in the Legal Lifeline section of the National Hairdressers Federation website.There are links to the PRS for Music  and Phonographic Performance Limited websites on the Hair Council links page . All of this suggests a wider than avera...

I presented the final talk in my introduction to IP on Wednesday.  Like the Introduction  and the talks on  Branding and Creative Output  I focussed on the different ways the law can protect investment in an intellectual asset. Until recently technology was connected with manufacturing which probably explains why patents protect new products and processes. The European Patent Convention , which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, specifically excludes from the definition of patentable inventions programs for computers, methods of doing business and the presentation of information. Yet much of the British economy is now based on those activities.   For that reason I discussed not simply patents and trade secrets but also the different legal tools for protecting investment in software, data analysis, web 2.0 services and so on such as copyright, database right, design right and plant breeders' rights. You will find my slides here: : How the...