Are you game for a little theory?
Why do some businesses have a sue-on-sight policy for infringers, while others are more laid back? Why can it make good sense to 'infringe' your own IP rights? What is an n-person iterated non-zero-sum game? If you ever wanted the answer to any of these questions, come and support IPKat's co-blogmeister Jeremy when he speaks this evening on 'How to Win at Monopoly: Applying Game Theory to the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights'.The lecture, in the Current Legal Problems series, takes place at 6pm today in UCL's Bentham House, conveniently near Euston Station. Mr Justice Lightman is in the chair.
X Factor disputeThe BBC reports on the action brought by Simon Fuller against The X Factor which, he claims, infringes the format of his Pop Idols programme. Fuller claims that the ITV1 show copies his Pop Idol format. Fuller's company 19 TV, which created Pop Idol and American Idol, is taking action against FremantleMedia, Cowell and his firms Simco and Syco. Cowell, who became a household name as a Pop Idol judge in 2001, called the claim "utterly ridiculous".
The trial continues. The IPKat will bring you the result. He expects, though that the court will stick to the party line that there is no copyright in a TV programme format.