10 Years of the IPKat!

It was a pleasure to celebrate the 10th birthday of the IPKat yesterday with blogmeister Jeremy Phillips and friends, and having had a thoroughly enjoyable time I wanted to say a few words personally about the value Jeremy has brought to the IP community.

Managing and contributing to the IPKat, one of the most renowned, freely accessible resources of information for intellectual property enthusiasts and professionals, whilst balancing numerous other commitments like moderating and contributing to about 10 leading blogs on IP law, also set up by Jeremy, is a task Prof. Phillips does day in day out with flair and enthusiasm.

Jeremy’s innovative approach of using the internet to reach out to a wider audience beyond academics and practitioners is certainly worthy of recognition. Prior to the arrival of the internet, access to information on legal subjects would be provided in printed form. These publications would be housed in university libraries or practitioners would subscribe to the specialist magazines or journals. It was a very niche and specialist world, with considerable barriers to entry. Having set up the first trademark blog in the UK, Prof. Phillips was a pioneer of the use of blogging as a platform to promote the free and rapid exchange of ideas on IP and to entice the interested public to engage and read about IP issues which affect them.

Arguably Jeremy’s greatest contribution, is his peerless ability to build IP communities through writing, networking, and the events he organises, and his approach is always inclusive. His work has encouraged open international dialogue and cooperation, developed relationships between practitioners, and inspired among many an inquisitive attitude towards intellectual property that can only have a positive impact upon the way in which intangible rights benefit our society.

Jeremy’s degree of dedication to people is outstanding, as a teacher he regularly assists students in finding jobs within their chosen field, is constantly writing references for them, and has a knack of spotting and nurturing talent.  He regularly organises free seminars and events, and while developing an engaging community where there would have been none before, Jeremy also still finds the time to give individualised responses to all those who write to him or comment on his network of blogs.  Overall, it’s not an exaggeration to say that no other individual has shown this level of commitment to the IP community, and I’m looking forward to what Jeremy and the IPKat have in store for the next 10 years!

This post was co-authored by Stefano Debolini