ipVA updates, OBEs and upcoming events

I realise that things have been a bit quiet on the blog, but behind the scenes we’ve been very busy since the start of the year. First, I’d like to congratulate Mike Barlow, who was awarded an OBE for services in IP – quite an accomplishment!  I’d also like to welcome Martin Howard on board to ipVA as a consultant in building international licensing businesses. Martin spent a number of years at BP on their licensing business, and it’s really exciting to have access to this kind of experience. 2010 is shaping up to be an interesting year!

Second, we’ve also added Patentopolis to our partners section.  This is a pretty cool facilitated strategy game where you play head-to-head against other players with various IP rights.  They do a whole lot of customisation for the game to make it fit your business, and it’s a pretty fun way to spend an afternoon or a whole day learning about IP. This game is worth a post in itself, so I’ll not say too much more about it.

We’ve also got some speaking slots at conferences coming up:

• Global IP Exchange 14-16 March in Munich.
• Nordic IPR Forum 22-24 March in Stockholm.
• BVCA – Venture Foundation Course in London.
• IP Business Congress in Munich in June. Andrew is speaking as part of an SME panel on IP.

We’ll also be doing a new series of webinars with the European Venture Capital Association following on from our webinar last September on IP due diligence. Catch us at any of these events for a coffee or a chat.