July is coming to an end and, with it, many are on or are preparing to start their summer break in the Northern Hemisphere. However, IP never goes on vacation, so here is an essential collection of events and news, opportunities, and a notice regarding IPKat policies for our Readers to peruse:
Events and news
First of all, a reminder that The IPKat Events pages is continuously being updated so you can find a selection of upcoming IP events
here.
CEIPI UPC conference (1 October)
On 1 October 2026, CEIPI is hosting a hybrid conference (Strasbourg and online) marking the first three years of activity of the Unified Patent Court: the development of its case law, procedural practice, strategic use by litigants, interaction with national courts, and the broader impact of the system on European patent enforcement will be all topics featured in the programme. For further information and to register,
click here.
Trade of counterfeits at EU borders
The European Union Intellectual Property Office has just disclosed the results of the recent operation JAD Pirates 4 against illegal trade of counterfeit goods at EU borders. It was implemented in cooperation with FRONTEX, which was in the lead, and EU Member State national authorities. More details are available
here.
Opportunities
Research Fellow, Queen's University Belfast
The purpose of the job advertised by Queen's University Belfast is to be an active member of the research project on the history and current impact of intellectual property (IP) rights for plants, to collect archival and interview data, to disseminate research findings, and to assist with the planning and delivery of the research activity so that the overall research objectives of the project are met. For further details and information,
click here.
IPKat policies
The IPKat is always happy to receive emails discussing potential contributions to the blog by Katfriends around the world. To this end, prospective authors are invited to consult
The IPKat policies before pitching an idea or submitting a post for consideration.
Among other things, The IPKat does not publish posts concerning cases and issues in respect of which authors have direct or indirect conflicts of interests (for example: it is not possible for a lawyer who worked on a contentious case to write on it), nor does it accept posts written with AI tools.
