Friday Fantasies

[Marcel Pemsel]

Friday Fantasies

Marcel Pemsel Friday, January 16, 2026 - EUIPO, events, Grenada, Madrid Protocol, Marcel Pemsel, UKIPO

The IPKat brings you the hottest IP news to warm you up during chilling winter days in the northern hemisphere.

Events

22 January 2026: Resisting the Transplant? Comparing EU and U.S. Approaches to Injunctions.

4iPCounsel hosts a webinar which examines the divergent approaches to intellectual property enforcement in the European Union and the United States, with a particular focus on injunctions. The presentation will be followed by a discussion and Q&A session with Francesca Ferrari (Professor at the University of Insubria), Léon Dijkman (Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam), Kristen Jakobsen Osenga (Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law). Further information and registration details are available here.

17 February 2026: Sir Richard Arnold 10th Anniversary Annual Lecture

Sir Richard Arnold (Alumni and Visiting Professor at Westminster Law School and Court of Appeal judge) will be delivering his tenth annual lecture. The event is organised by the Centre for Law, Society and Popular Culture at the University of Westminster and is open to all students, colleagues, alumni and members of the public (“What about Kats?”, Merpel wonders). You can find further information here.

4 March 2026: Music, Copyright, and Contracts in the Age of AI: Out of Tune or Perfect Harmony?

Registration for the Annual Copyright Lecture at University College London's Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL) has just opened. The event is hybrid. The panel is chaired by Lord Justice Arnold and you will hear from Prof Séverine Dussolier (SciencesPo), Ed Baden-Powell (Simkins) and Natasha Mangal (CISAC). Please register here.

17 June 2026: ALAI 2026 Next Generation Event

Are you an early-career copyright scholar or practitioner (within five years of PhD defence or bar admission)? If so, ALAI’s Next Generation Event might just be the right one for you. The half-day programme focuses on cutting-edge issues at the intersection of copyright, creativity and freedom of expression, including discussions on topics such as human creativity versus generative AI and derivative creativity. The registration deadline is 15 February 2026, so hurry and register here.

Trade Mark Offices

Record year at the EUIPO

The EUIPO just published its 2025 results on filings of EU trade marks and EU designs and it was a record year for both.

Overall, applications increased by 7.8 % compared to 2024, reaching a total of 327,735 filings. Germany, China and Italy were the top filing countries for EU trade marks, while China, the United Kingdom and the United States topped the ranking of EU design filings.

If you wish to go into more detail, please click here.

UKIPO: Most iconic trade mark?

Like the EUIPO, the UKIPO also has reason to celebrate: the UK’s trade mark registry was 150 years old on 1 January 2026. Currently there are more than 2.5 million trade marks protected in the UK. To celebrate this landmark anniversary, the UKIPO would like to know which UK trade mark from the past or present stands out for you, what is special about it, and what you think makes a trade mark iconic? Take part here.

WIPO: Grenada joined Madrid Protocol

The Madrid Protocol family has become bigger since Grenada joined as its 116th member. The Protocol will enter into force on 15 March 2026. Further information is available here.