Every blogger's nightmare is the sudden occurrence of a really big news item which everyone else seems to get to before he can. This scenario is not unique to bloggers, though. It is shared by all members of the media whose contributions, though of substantial significance at the time, soon fade in terms of their interest value. This Kat well recalls a BBC TV interview many years ago with the obituary writer for The Times, the doyen of British obituarists in his generation. After answering a variety of questions relating to the methodology employed in creating and updating obituaries, he was asked one final question: "In all your days as obituary writer for The Times, have you ever had any regrets?" He gave the shocking response: "Yes. I was on holiday the daWhat y they shot John F. Kennedy". This Kat feels a bit like that himself, since he was offline and with not a sniff of a computer connection for several hours while the rest of the IP fraternity, not omitting his PatLit blogging companion Michael Thesen, all the way from Germany, were making merry with the news that David Cameron has finally taken the initiative in blocking the famously and controversially flawed European patent deal. Following yesterday's post on the position taken by a generally unknown but suddenly influential Parliamentary Committee that the proposals were "not fit for purpose", this decision was understandable, even if it's fair to say that few of us -- even those who practise the occult science of hindsight -- could make a plausible claim that this was ever likely to happen.
The interesting question is what happens next. Since there are no votes in patents, it is fair to assume that David Cameron is acting out of conviction that he is right to do so, rather than on a whim. Indeed the fact that, if the report is accurate, David Cameron offered to drop the call for the court to be located in London in exchange for the Court of Justice of the European Union being stripped of its ultimate jurisdiction in European unitary patent matters supports the theory that the man is acting with the interests of the patent community at heart, rather than simply those of the British. However, even as this Kat writes, word is emerging via Twitter that an agreement has been finally achieved.
From a domestic UK point of view, there remains plenty to discuss, regardless of the final deal. Can it be that, with the gentle drip-drip-drip of information about the importance of IP finally making its mark on the solid rock of political apathy and unconcern, the need to prioritise a fair, workable and value-adding IP system has now been recognised? And is the Prime Minister, like a lion emerging from the shadow of a mouse, taking the reins of the IP portfolio from the deeply embattled Baroness Wilcox? In the latter case, will he be receptive to further IP policy proposals, not least of which is the speedy establishment of an equivalent position to the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator in the United States? We will no doubt soon find out.