It was a lively week on the IPKat, with a set of posts full of insights worth your attention. In case you didn’t catch everything, here’s your round-up: Fordham IP Conference  |
| Kat taking a short nap between conference sessions |
Katfriends Sarah Bui and Seth B. Pearson took us to the Upper West Side for the 33rd Annual Intellectual Property Law & Policy Conference (2026), organised by the Hansen IP Institute at Fordham Law School.
Sarah
reported on the opening session,
Government Leaders’ Perspective on IP, emphasising WIPO’s evolving role, the AI-driven modernisation of IP systems, and the need for stability and predictability in global IP regimes.
Seth
followed with his top five insights from the Data Governance, Privacy and Cybersecurity session, focusing on regulatory divergence across jurisdictions, the falling cost of cyberattacks, and the increasing role of lawyers as translators between law and technology.
Seth also
provided five takeaways from
Blended Session 4D: Designs, highlighting the procedural split between U.S. and EU design systems, the rise of trade-dress-driven fashion litigation, the cultural normalisation of “dupes”, the ongoing battles over functionality, and the new pathways aimed at protecting traditional and indigenous creative heritage.
Trade Marks Katfriend Thomas Hood
analysed the recent dispute concerning a coexistence agreement in
C & J Clark International Ltd v Trek Bicycle Corporation and Anor [2026] EWHC 659 (Ch).
Designs Marcel Pemsel
reviewed Stone on European Union Design Law: A practitioners’ Guide (Oxford University Press, 2025), authored by David Stone — a future-proof book for practitioners in Europe and beyond who work with EU design law.
Unfair Competition Marcel also
examined the German Supreme Court’s Google Ads case (I ZR 28/25), in which the Court considered whether a retailer can be held liable for unlawful advertisements that Google placed on third-party platforms.
News, Events and Opportunities Jocelyn Bosse
highlighted a range of miscellaneous developments, events and opportunities from the IP world.
Photo by Emre Gencer from Pexels.
