New beginnings: the way forward and a heartfelt thank you

On Thursday 26 November 2015, Jeremy Phillips, the founding editor of JIPLP, retired, after dedicating 42 years of his life to the world of intellectual property. His contagious passion, endless enthusiasm and encyclopaedic knowledge, as well as his extraordinary generosity and humanity, are legendary. Jeremy has not only been an extraordinary editor, rigorous and supportive at the same time, but has provided an incommensurable contribution to the creation of an open and dynamic IP community. In his last public talk, at the end of our 10th Anniversary Conference (the full recording is available here - pwd: JIPLP10), Jeremy encouraged all of us to be ambassadors for intellectual property, taking an active role in understanding, promoting and developing intellectual property. Thanks to Jeremy’s outstanding work in his ten year of editorship, as well as to OUP’s support and to the contributions made by so many of you, as authors, reviewers, members of the editorial board and readers, JIPLP is, and will always strive to be, the ideal venue for such challenging task.

As the new editors of JIPLP, we intend to continue Jeremy’s work with the same passion, rigour and supportiveness. In different ways, Jeremy has played a pivotal role in our lives, encouraging us to develop our interest and research in intellectual property, challenging us to expand our professional and academic skills, and teaching us precious lessons about the importance and value of IP in its wider socio-economic context. Each of us brings a diverse range of experiences, ideas and research interests, that we hope will serve our contributors and readers well. The enduring success of JIPLP rests, as always, in the hands of the many people that dedicate their time and effort to the journal, from our production and marketing teams to our editorial board, from our authors and reviewers to our dear readers. We will need your help, support and continued contribution to ensure that JIPLP remains a reference point in the IP world.

Our current editorial team comprises Stefano Barazza and Eleonora Rosati, Editors of JIPLP, Marius Schneider, Consulting Editor, and Sarah Harris, Managing Editor. For the benefit of any readers or prospective contributors that may be unfamiliar with one or more of us, here are some information about us, with contact details, as drafted by Jeremy:

Stefano Barazza - Editor

A lecturer in intellectual property law at the Faculty of Business and Society of the University of South Wales, Stefano also provides training for the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office. An Italian-qualified avvocato, Stefano formerly ran his own practice in Udine. A frequent contributor to JIPLP, Stefano, who has also contributed to the IPKat and PatLit weblogs, is particularly interested in patent and trade mark rights.

Email - LinkedIn

Eleonora Rosati - Editor

Formerly Deputy Editor of JIPLP, copyright specialist Eleonora holds a doctorate from the European University Institute, Florence. Well known as a regular member of the IPKat weblog team, she is an Italian-qualified avvocato who practised in the Milan office of Bird & Bird. Eleonora lectures in intellectual property law at the University of Southampton and runs the e-LAWnora consultancy. A regular contributor to the journal, her next article, "Are national courts the addressees of the InfoSoc three-step test?", is co-authored with Sir Richard Arnold.

Email - LinkedIn

Marius Schneider – Consulting Editor

An attorney before the Brussels and Mauritius Bars, Marius heads the IP boutique firm IPvocate, the IP department of Belgian law firm CEW & Partners. An experienced IP litigator, Marius is a member of the EU Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights and the immediate past chairman of the European Communities Trade Mark Association Anti-Counterfeiting Committee. Marius is co-editor of Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights through Border Measures - Law and Practice (Oxford University Press). Marius has already masterminded some JIPLP special issues.

Email - LinkedIn

Sarah Harris – Managing Editor

Sarah has looked after JIPLP from the beginning of the Journal. Her experience will be extremely precious to the Editors Team as well as the Editorial Board, since Sarah is a skilled commissioning editor with a strong academic background. She has a solid understanding of intellectual property law.

Email - LinkedIn

As always, we welcome submissions across all the fields of intellectual property, on both substantive IP topics and practice-related matters, such as litigation, enforcement, drafting and transactions. Contributions in related subjects, including competition and international trade law, are also welcome, if closely connected with IP topics. Prospective contributors should note that the journal is specifically designed for IP lawyers, patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys, but also aims to be an essential source of reference for academics specialising in IP, members of the judiciary, officials in IP registries and regulatory bodies. In selecting contributions for publication, JIPLP evaluates their practical relevance and international interest, seeking to achieve a balance that ensures the widest possible coverage of current issues across all areas of IP.

We encourage prospective authors to familiarise with the journal (a sample issue is freely available here) and to follow the instructions for authors, which contain important information on formatting and referencing. Queries concerning contributions should be directed to Sarah Harris, our Managing Editor, but you are also welcome to contact one of the editors directly for specific queries or to discuss your ideas for potential contributions (the brief profiles above should give you an idea of who might be the most appropriate editor to contact; if in doubt, Sarah should be able to help you).

We would also like to remind you that JIPLP has its own Twitter account and a carefully moderated LinkedIn group, with over 400 members, which features interesting topics for conversation. You can also subscribe to this blog’s mailing list, which allows you to receive items posted on this weblog via email, by typing your email address in the side widget.

Finally, we would like to thank all the OUP staff (Rhodri, Sarah, Laura, Grace, Steve and many others), contributors, readers and friends that will accompany us in this new adventure. We welcome and appreciate your contributions, suggestions, ideas and comments, that are so valuable and important for both JIPLP and the IP community.