Thursday 14 July 2011

Handbags at Dawn: this year's Intellectual Property in the Fashion Industry conference

Handbags at Dawn: Intellectual Property in the Fashion Industry is a popular one-day conference organised every September in Central London by CLT Conferences.  This year's event takes place on 22 September and it's very exciting for the Art & Artifice crew since this is the first fully-fledged conference which this weblog has ever sponsored. Two members of the A&A blog team (Simone and Rosie) are speaking, while team support Jeremy is in the chair.

You can get an idea of the topics covered by taking a peek at the brochure here.  Of particular interest to readers of Art & Artifice will be the appearance of Dutch lawyer Jens van den Brink (Kennedy van der Laan, Amsterdam).  Few lawyers in Europe are better qualified than Jens to discuss "Fashion IP versus Artistic Freedom", since he acted for Nadia Plesner in her litigation against luxury goods house Louis Vuitton over the now celebrated handbag image in her work Darfurnica (see posts here and here for details).

The speakers' credentials are most impressive. According to the brochure,
"Simone Blakeney has recently joined the Intellectual Property team at Clifford Chance. She has experience in advising on a wide variety of IP matters, including trade marks, passing off, copyright and design issues. Simone’s practice covers a range of sectors, including the fashion industry. 
Jens van den Brink studied law in Amsterdam, London and new York and practices at Kennedy Van der Laan’s IP/media  department in Amsterdam, which has strong fashion industry, IT and media practices. Jens specializes in work for the media, with a focus on free speech and copyright. His clients include major newspapers, publishers, broadcasters and blogs, and he acted for Plesner in the dispute with Louis Vuitton. Jens is guest lecturer in media law at various Dutch universities and editor-in-chief of Media Report, a media law blog 
Rosie Burbidge is an associate in the intellectual property group of olswang LLP. Rosie is a big fan of fashion, particularly where it intersects with the world of art. She feeds her interest in art and the law through her contributions to the Art & Artifice blog.
Mary-Ellen Field has created, managed, protected and monetized intellectual property rights throughout the world for 30 years. She has worked on major international brand transactions licensing and franchising projects in the fashion and beauty sectors. She has been retained as an expert witness in numerous high profile trade mark disputes. She has launched and managed brands in the premium and luxury and masstige markets in Europe, Australia, the USA and Russia. 
John Hull is head of IP at Memery Crystal LLP. He has wide experience in this field and has a particular interest in information rights, the law of confidence, data privacy and in the commercialisation of IP. He is the author of numerous articles in professional and academic journals; is Visiting Professorial fellow at Queen Mary, the University of London, a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Brand and Innovation law at UCL and visiting lecturer at the IP Academy in Singapore. 
Catherine Lee is passionate about IP, with a special interest in branding, creative content and technology. She is a qualified solicitor and trade mark attorney (in Australia) and a solicitor and barrister (in England and Wales). She also holds a DPhil in copyright law from the University of oxford and is proud to be an IPKat.
Annsley Merelle Ward specialises in intellectual property and reputation management litigation with particular emphasis in the fashion, cultural heritage and entertainment sectors. With knowledge of IP law in the US and on the continent, her work often involves multi-jurisdictional copyright, design right and trade mark disputes. She writes for leading intellectual property blog, IPKat and has also presented papers and seminars at international conferences. 
Henry Ward is a member of 8 New Square where his practice covers many aspects of intellectual property law, including patents, copyright and designs, trade marks, confidential information and malicious falsehood. He “cuts through the intricacies and delivers a clear message to clients,” and “exudes authority, as he remains calm under pressure and firm in his submissions,” according to Chambers".
See you there? We do hope so!

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