Chair:
Yash Kulkarni, Barrister, Quadrant Chambers
Speakers:
Julian Heathcote Hobbins, General Counsel, The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST)
Ian Karet, Partner, Linklaters LLP
Roger Bickerstaff, Partner, Bird & Bird LLP
For IT lawyers, the most important judgment of 2012 was UsedSoft v Oracle. All SCL members and indeed all those involved in licensing will want to feel totally secure in their understanding of this important case.
The wilder speculation following the CJEU landmark decision in UsedSoft suggested that this marked the end of the software licensing world as we know it and that online copyright itself was effectively under threat – that’s what the authorisation of resale of ‘used’ licences exhaustion of rights on first sale surely meant. The obstinate few felt that this was a decision that could safely be dismissed in time-honoured fashion as ‘limited to its own special facts’. Both those views are largely discredited but the consensus is that UsedSoft really matters and needs to be carefully considered in a whole range of contexts.
The months since the judgment have enabled experts to make considered evaluations of its impact. For this meeting, SCL has assembled a panel with unrivalled insight and experience that they will share.
To download the session recording please click on the speaker’s name below:
Ian Karet
Julian Heathcote-Hobbins
Roger Bickerstaff
The speaker’s slides (where available) appear in the download section on the right-hand side of this screen.
Speakers’ details:
Julian Heathcote Hobbins
Julian is General Counsel of The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) and is responsible for FAST’s Legal Affairs Team dealing with enforcement activities and FAST’s policy objectives, which centre on maintaining the robust IP regime which underpins the success of the software industry with regular engagement with UKIPO (DIUS), BERR and the MOJ. Julian is Deputy Chairman of FAST’s Legal Advisory Group (FLAG). He has assisted law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations and has been involved in civil matters, including overseeing the securing of evidence for warrants plus FAST’s Operation Red where police conducted a raid, made arrests and seized evidence following allegations of code theft.
Ian Karet
Ian is a partner at Linklaters. He is a specialist in intellectual property with his main areas of practice including IP aspects of acquisitions and disposals, fundraisings and licensing, dispute resolution, in particular patent litigation (biotech, healthcare and high tech) and IT, trade mark and copyright disputes. He is a solicitor advocate and a qualified arbitrator and mediator. Ian is on the editorial boards of European Intellectual Property Review and Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice
Roger Bickerstaff
Roger is Joint Head of Bird & Bird’s International IT Sector Group. Roger advises on all aspects of IT law to public and private sector clients, but he has a particular interest and experience in advising on public sector IT projects. Roger also has a significant level of expertise in public procurement law.
