2019 magazines

WIPR November/December 2019

In this action-packed issue, the Irish lawyer who took on McDonald's describes what it’s like being at the centre of a global story.
The USPTO's top brass, including director Andrei Iancu, discuss section 101, diversity and difficult decisions. And we speak to Mexico’s IP attorneys trying to protect plant varieties in fields controlled by deadly drug gangs. 

Plus, why the opaque world of 5G standards is so important and how the world’s top museums discovered that their most valuable treasures can be the copyrights protecting their artefacts.

WIPR September/October 2019

Against a backdrop of trade deals that offer, on the whole, positive IP harmonisation, there are two enormous elephants destabilising IP—or halting its operation altogether. For every EU-Mercosur and US-Mexico-Canada agreement, there is Brexit and the US-China trade war.  In this issue, we delve into the real no-deal Brexit, as time runs out to address rights owners’ key concerns.

WIPR investigates whether India’s Intellectual Property Appellate Board is unfit for purpose and how the country’s lawyers carry on anyway. We also report on the cautious optimism surrounding efforts to reduce Brazil’s patent backlog. 

WIPR July/August 2019

The promise that artificial intelligence can change not just IP, but other aspects of our lives too, comes with a warning. In this issue we peer into the darker future of machine learning, where uneasy ethical choices are to be made.
 
WIPR also tackles the questions raised by recent US cases, which pitted fundamental rights like freedom of speech against IP. Plus we unpick rights issues around augmented and virtual reality, and the burning issue of diversity in our industry. 

WIPR May/June 2019

In 2019, when it comes to making a home “smart”, the possibilities are endless. Since the introduction of Amazon’s digital voice assistant Alexa in 2014, the smart device landscape has expanded into all aspects of daily life. In this issue, we investigate what innovators can do to make sure their inventions are adequately protected in this space.

We also delve into another changing landscape: the IP services industry. With myriad merger and acquisition deals being announced over the past year, the question needs to be asked, might consolidation damage the industry?

WIPR March/April 2019

On asteroids, the moon and in space station labs, interstellar research is increasingly performed by private companies. In this issue, we look at how these off-world innovators are bending the rules of IP. 

Back on planet earth, we delve into diplomacy's dark arts, where IP is leveraged in geopolitical disputes from Saudi Arabia to Peru. And critics of President Trump say his combative trade policy with China is damaging US interests, but is he legitimately using all the tools in his arsenal?

WIPR January/February 2019

Having now been in office for two years, US President Donald Trump has enacted several policies that have made their mark in the IP arena. In this issue of WIPR, we have assessed five of the biggest changes to the US IP landscape, including Trump’s protectionist outlook which has led to a trade dispute with China. 
The rest of the magazine includes some great content, with focuses on Brexit, the relationship between insurance and IP, and the rebranding process. We also feature an interview with a senior legal IP counsel at Vodafone.