More on the IPEC

Can anyone guess why Welsh law firm Clarke & Hartland opted for IPEC as the name for its IP enforcement service?

The Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) was featured quite a lot on this weblog in the past (see eg posts here and here). The Kat's silence during 2011does not, however mean that he has lost interest in this tantalising topic.

Inderprastha Engineering College

International
Pharmaceutical
Excipients Council

* The excellent post on Intellectual Property Watch by William New ("New White House IP Advisory Committees Elevates IP Enforcement To Highest Level") did not go unnoticed by the IPKat.  Bill explains that US President Barack Obama used an executive order last week to create two government advisory committees on IP enforcement. These committees, he notes, put IP rights at the highest interagency level possible and have the stated aim of promoting innovation through the protection of such rights.The first of these consists the cabinet-level heads of nine major departments of the US government -- including Treasury, Commerce, Justice, Agriculture and Trade. The second consists of agencies directly involved in IP enforcement, including the US Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Homeland Security, State Department, and Health and Human Services. IPEC Victoria Espinel will chair them both.

* The very same Ms Espinel filed her first Annual Report, covering 2010, last week.  The report covers 86 pages, which sounds quite daunting -- but the reality isn't so bad.  Nearly three pages are just the list of acronyms and there are a few blanks thrown in too.  You can download the report here.

* IPKat team member Jeremy is looking forward to participating in this year's annual Fordham Intellectual Property Conference (28 to 29 April: further details awaited), at which he has been asked to speak on the topic, giving a European perspective and reporting on the [lack of] progress towards establishing an IP coordinating function within the old continent.