London Calling - for scholars of Lego and the CJEU

Two new seminars are coming up for those of you who can make it to London - firstly a fascinating look at the world of Lego hosted by the City University, and then BLACA hosts Sir John Mummery looking at the impact in the UK of rulings from the Court of Justice of the European of the European Union.

On Monday September 7th Professor Dan Hunter, Foundation Dean, Swinburne Law School, Australia, will be giving a talk at the City University titled "The Lego Brick and the International Intellectual Property System, 1955-2015" - from 15.00 to 17.00.

Background: For intellectual property scholars, the Lego brick stands as a wonderful case study in the development of intellectual property regimes in the latter part of the twentieth century. This paper traces the ways in which the Lego company has used every type of intellectual property regime since it first created its system of interlocking bricks in 1955, in an effort to retain control over its iconic brick. With its bricks initially protected by patent, the company has, at various times, sought to use copyright, trademark and trade secret to stop competitors from creating interlocking bricks. As these efforts failed, the company had to change, rethinking its approach to intellectual property and more generally to its degree of control over the brick. By using the primary sources of the litigation material and the issued Lego sets, the paper examines the complex interaction between the intellectual property law, global capitalism, and the cultural environment of the last 60 years. The paper also demonstrates how the Lego company has influenced the development of the international intellectual property system in the postwar period. In a concise and interesting way, Lego is a microcosm of the development of the international intellectual property system, and the firms that rely on it.

Room A110, College Building, City University London. You need to register to attend - but its free! There is a link below.

On Thursday September 10th, the British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association, BLACA (which provides a forum for discussion of matters affecting the rights of authors and other copyright owners and is the UK national group of the International Literary and Artistic Association) hosts Sir John Mummery speaking on the Impact in the UK of Court of Justice European of the European Union rulings. Sir John is a former Lord Justice of Appeal and is President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal -  and has an honorary Doctorate in Laws from the City University!

Time: 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start  Venue: The offices of Berwin Leighton Paisner, St Magnus House, 3 Lower Thames Street, London, EC3R 6HE. Link below.


More Lego information here http://www.city.ac.uk/events/2015/september/the-lego-brick-and-the-international-intellectual-property-system,-1955-2016

More Euro information here http://www.blaca.org/