Never Too Late: If You Missed the IPKat Last Week!
The IPKat’s weekly roundup recapped the 33rd Fordham Intellectual Property Law & Policy Conference, where speakers highlighted WIPO’s evolving role, AI‑driven modernization of IP systems, and divergent data‑governance regulations. It also featured a deep dive into a trademark coexistence dispute between C & J Clark and Trek, a review of David Stone’s new EU design law guide, and analysis of the German Supreme Court’s ruling on retailer liability for Google‑placed ads. Additional miscellaneous IP developments were listed for practitioners.
Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind Farm Gets Development Consent
The UK Secretary of State has granted development consent for the 1.5 GW Outer Dowsing offshore wind farm, a joint venture of Corio, TotalEnergies and Gulf Energy Development. Located about 54 km off Lincolnshire, the project will host up to 100 turbines,...
Eleven-X Expands Smart Parking Platform with Vehicle Counting
Eleven‑x has introduced a wireless Vehicle Counting solution that expands its eXactpark platform from stall‑level monitoring to zone‑level occupancy tracking. The system provides real‑time entry and exit counts across multi‑level garages and surface lots, delivering up to 98.4% accuracy and...
Kalfresh Launches Sweet Corn Ribs to Compete with Takeaways
Kalfresh has rolled out a new pre‑prepared vegetable offering called Sweet Corn Ribs, designed to mimic the flavor and convenience of takeaway meals. The ribs can be grilled, air‑fried, microwaved or baked, delivering a ready‑to‑eat snack in minutes. Initially sold...
Issuers Face a New Reality as Credit Goes Real Time
Issuers are confronting a shift toward real‑time credit, where consumers expect financing to adapt instantly at the point of need. Stephen Bowe of Paymentology warns that rising credit demand can mask legacy technology shortcomings that impede flexible, transaction‑driven products. Traditional...
China’s “Secret Role” In India-Pakistan & US-Iran War? Did Chinese Satellites Help Tehran With Precision Strikes on US & Gulf...
A Financial Times investigation alleges Iran bought China’s TEE‑01B spy satellite in 2024, using its imagery to pinpoint U.S. bases such as Prince Sultan in Saudi Arabia, the Fifth Fleet hub in Bahrain, and Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti. The report links the...
UK Could Face Gaps on Supermarket Shelves by Summer if Iran War Continues
UK ministers are preparing for a ‘reasonable worst‑case scenario’ as the Iran‑Israel conflict threatens to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, potentially disrupting carbon‑dioxide supplies essential for food processing. The government’s Exercise Turnstone, run by the Cobra emergency committee, includes...
Verizon Scores FWA, Private 5G Deal for FIFA World Cup
Verizon has signed a multi‑year deal with FIFA to supply 5G, fiber, fixed wireless access and broadcast services for the 2026 World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The operator is adding extra 5G spectrum and deploying under‑seat...
Cat Bond Market Fundamentals Are Tremendous. Growth Absolutely Expected & Sustainable: John Seo
John Seo, co‑founder of Fermat Capital, said the catastrophe bond market’s fundamentals are "tremendous" and that recent growth is both expected and sustainable. He highlighted the surge in US catastrophe insurance risk and a shifting institutional mindset that now treats...
AI May Run Payments but Humans Still Own the Risk
Artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in payments, boosting fraud detection, transaction speed and data handling. WEX’s Chief Risk and Compliance Officer Annie Drew argues that the real test now is governance—embedding oversight, explainability and accountability from day one. While AI...
The Next Phase of Mobile Monetization Belongs to Publishers Who Diversify
At Gamesforum Barcelona, PubMatic warned that relying solely on Cost‑Per‑Install (CPI) is no longer enough for mobile game publishers. E‑commerce and performance brands are shifting budgets toward outcome‑based advertising, growing faster than traditional user‑acquisition spend. Publishers must diversify revenue by...
90% of Millennials Feel Pressure at the Grocery Store
The March 2026 PYMNTS Data Book reveals that millennials are juggling an average of 3.4 simultaneous cost pressures, the highest of any generation. Grocery‑related stress surged to 90% in January 2026, up 11 points from October 2025, highlighting everyday essentials...
Anthropic’s Nuclear Bomb
Anthropic unveiled Claude Mythos Preview, an AI model that can autonomously discover and exploit zero‑day vulnerabilities with a 72.4% success rate. In tests the model cracked a 17‑year‑old FreeBSD remote code execution flaw, granting unauthenticated root access. Access is restricted...
The New Checkout Is Where the Best Offer Wins
The PYMNTS Intelligence report, in partnership with FIS, reveals a $42.4 billion revenue gap caused by shoppers missing available discounts at checkout. Around 70% of consumers alter their purchase decisions when presented with relevant offers, yet most offers remain unclaimed due...
Payments Alone No Longer Cut It for Small Businesses
Synchrony is debuting a three‑part interview series, “Small Business. Big Advantage,” to show how flexible payment options, modern credit tools, and data‑driven decisioning can fuel growth for small‑to‑medium enterprises. Each episode pairs a Synchrony executive with a merchant leader to...
Government Cuts Electricity Bill for 10,000 Manufacturers in Boost for UK Competitiveness
The UK government announced that the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will be expanded to cover more than 10,000 manufacturers – a 40% increase – and deliver one‑off payments in 2027 that cut electricity bills by up to 25%. The...
AI and Grocery - US Giant Albertsons Gets Personal in Its Digital Intent
Albertsons CEO Susan Morris says AI‑driven personalization is the chain’s durable competitive edge. The retailer is leveraging its 15‑minute‑to‑120 million‑people store footprint, a robust loyalty program and a store‑based fulfillment model to blend online and in‑store experiences. AI tools such as...
AI Implications for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense Policy and Programs
The U.S. Department of Defense is accelerating AI adoption while recognizing that artificial intelligence reshapes the chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threat environment. AI promises faster detection, improved decision‑making, and more effective crisis response, but it also enables adversaries...
New Approaches to Tackling Ransomware Recovery
Ransomware attacks are increasingly targeting backup data, rendering traditional zero‑trust models inadequate. Object First introduced Zero Trust Data Resilience (ZTDR), expanding zero‑trust principles with backup segmentation, multiple resilience zones, and immutable storage. Its appliance leverages Zero Access architecture to deliver...
AdPlayer.Pro SaaS Video Ad Tech Provider Reports Q1 2026 Results
AdPlayer.Pro reported Q1 2026 results highlighting the rollout of configurable ad‑display and player‑cycle intervals across all video placements. Early testing showed an average 8% lift in ad performance for both outstream and instream formats, boosting publisher inventory value and revenue. The...
Digest: Netflix to Refocus on Ads and Content After Warner Bid; IAB Sets AI Commerce Media Guidelines; WPP in Talks...
Netflix is set to report its first earnings since abandoning the Warner Bros. Discovery deal, highlighting a renewed emphasis on advertising and original content. The company projects Q1 revenue of $12.18 billion, up 15.5%, with ad‑supported tiers expected to generate about $634 million. Meanwhile,...
A Railroad And Reservoirs
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad built a 3‑ft narrow‑gauge line through the Black Canyon in 1882, a risky venture that cost the equivalent of $5.26 million per mile today. The line spurred the rise of the rail town Cimarron,...
Uncrewed Bluebottle Vessels Push Persistent Maritime Surveillance
Uncrewed Bluebottle vessels, powered by solar, wind and wave energy, can remain at sea for up to six months without refuelling. The Royal Australian Navy already operates 15 of the 24‑foot craft and has placed an order for 40 more,...
FTC Ruling Leaves Advertisers in the Dark over Brand Safety
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ruled that major ad agencies—including Publicis, WPP and Dentsu—colluded to boycott platforms such as Elon Musk’s X, resulting in a settlement that prohibits restricting advertising on politically biased or motivated grounds. In response, the agencies...
Relationship Issues in Agencyland and the Case of the Disappearing Media Jobs
BMF and Westpac announced a split after just one year, an unusual case of an agency ending a client relationship. A new We Grow study highlights that agencies now demand agenda‑driven meetings and reject casual outreach from media salespeople. Within...
Nestlé Sells Majority Ankerkraut Stake to Family Owners
Nestlé is selling its majority stake in German spice and tea brand Ankerkraut back to founders Anne and Stefan Lemcke. The move is part of a broader portfolio simplification driven by CEO Philipp Navratil, who has been offloading non‑core assets such...
Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert Take Aim at J.D. Vance’s ‘Rough Week’
Vice President JD Vance faced a barrage of criticism on late‑night shows after a rough week that included defending Donald Trump’s remarks about the Pope, denying a close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, and failing to broker a cease‑fire in Iran....
China’s Renewable Growth Dwarfs World, Contradicting Trump’s Claim
At the World Economic Forum, Trump claimed China makes renewable equipment but doesn’t use it. Reality: Over the past few years, China’s growth in wind and solar usage has exceeded the rest of the world COMBINED. TRUMP'S RHETORIC RARELY MATCHES REALITY. https://t.co/SGRBqnFkj6
New Giant Green Roof Will Be a Test Bed for Resilience
Sydney’s Harbourside precinct, a $2 billion (≈$1.3 bn USD) mixed‑use development, will host Australia’s largest urban green roof at 4,700 sq m. UTS and RACE for 2030 partner with developer Mirvac to monitor the roof and surrounding green spaces for two years, gathering data on...
Insights From DBS on Being a Trusted, AI-Enabled Bank with a Heart
DBS Chief Operating Officer highlights the bank’s rapid shift to generative AI, noting that more than 70% of staff now rely on the in‑house DBS‑GPT for daily tasks. A decade‑long data and AI foundation enabled the bank to re‑engineer processes,...
Medicine Misses the Mark on African and Black Hair Health
Black and African patients remain dramatically underrepresented in dermatology, especially alopecia research, creating a knowledge gap that hampers accurate diagnosis and treatment. An undergraduate survey of ten participants revealed that hair loss is frequently linked to chemical straightening, tight braids,...
Ready for BBC Breakfast: Maths, Comedy, and Awkward Seating
Very excited I’m about to hit the BBC Breakfast sofa to talk about maths and comedy. Please rate how awkwardly I sit on the couch. Show details: https://t.co/AVbB7zDPA2 https://t.co/BFPKJGNE3a
How to Safely Manage Multiple Facebook Accounts Without Getting Restricted
Marketers and growth operators often need several Facebook profiles to run campaigns, but Facebook’s policy permits only one personal account per individual. Restrictions arise not from the number of accounts but from shared device identifiers, IP overlap, and repetitive behavior...
Middle East Conflict to Redesign Container Trade Flows
Container lines are rapidly reconfiguring routes to bypass Gulf chokepoints after the Middle East conflict escalated, according to Drewry analysis. Higher war‑risk insurance costs and volatile fuel prices are prompting carriers to seek alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, Bab...
Ford's Skunkworks EV Tech Will Make It Into Hybrids Too
Ford’s secretive skunkworks EV team is channeling its latest electric‑powertrain breakthroughs into the automaker’s upcoming hybrid lineup. By leveraging the low‑cost drive units developed for a forthcoming $30,000 mid‑size electric pickup, Ford aims to make its hybrids more efficient and...
US Alliance Indispensable as Marles Looks to Build More Self-Sufficient ADF
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles unveiled a new defence strategy that will boost spending by roughly AU$53 billion (about US$35 billion) over the next decade, channeling billions into air and missile‑defence, command‑and‑control, autonomous systems and the AUKUS submarine programme. The plan also...
$3.3 Billion Kuwait Gas Project Put on Hold as Regional Risks Stall Construction
Kuwait’s $3.3 billion onshore gas processing plant near the Al‑Zour refinery has been placed on indefinite hold as regional geopolitical tensions rise. The project, designed to handle about 632 million cubic feet of gas per day and cut the country’s reliance on...
NASA’s TDRSS Problem: Why the Agency Is Betting on Commercial Providers to Keep Hubble and the ISS Online
NASA’s decades‑old Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) is aging, and its remaining satellites could fail by the end of the 2020s, jeopardizing telemetry for the Hubble Space Telescope and crew safety on the International Space Station. To avoid...
Accelerated Biological Aging Raises Dementia Risk in Women
Epigenetic Clocks of Biological Aging and Risk of Incident Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: The Women's Health Initiative Memory Study "In this cohort study of older women, accelerated biological aging measured by AgeAccelGrim2 was associated with higher risk of incident MCI/probable...
Volvo CE Starts Serial Production of A30 Electric and A40 Electric Articulated Haulers
Volvo Construction Equipment has started serial production of its A30 Electric and A40 Electric articulated haulers at the Braås plant in Sweden, becoming the first maker to mass‑produce battery‑electric machines in this size class. The A30 can haul 29 tonnes and...
Turning Insight Into Impact: How QBD Books Is Redefining In-Store Performance
QBD Books, one of Australia’s largest book retailers, teamed up with Kepler Analytics to embed real‑time, store‑level customer insights into its operations. The partnership replaced generic foot‑traffic reports with a full path‑to‑purchase view, allowing staff to match staffing levels, merchandising,...
Russian Missile Strike Ignites Smoke over Kyiv
Smoke rises in Kyiv after a Russian missile strike. Ukraine April 16, 2026. REUTERS/Anna Voitenko https://t.co/unp2bKGVmF
CSN Moves to Next Phase of Cement Unit Sale Process
Brazil’s Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) will launch the binding‑bid phase for the sale of its cement arm, CSN Cimentos, within the next month. Non‑binding offers are due by the end of April, with shortlisted bidders to submit firm proposals by...
Collect&Go Pilots Autonomous EV for Urban Grocery Deliveries
Collect&Go, in partnership with Telenet Business, has launched Belgium’s first pilot of an unmanned electric vehicle delivering groceries on public roads in Leuven. The vehicle, remotely operated over a dedicated 5G link and equipped with radar and cameras, will run...
The End of the Hormuz Bargain
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and large volumes of LNG, fertilizer and key feedstocks travel, is no longer a neutral corridor. Escalating Middle‑East tensions and unilateral toll demands have prompted many...
Rethinking Security Cooperation in the Age of Commercial Tech
Jarrett Lane argues that U.S. security cooperation must pivot from legacy defense articles to commercially sourced technologies to keep pace with modern threats. He notes a $250 billion foreign‑military‑sales backlog and highlights Ukraine’s rapid adoption of commercial cloud and analytics during...
Freya Biosciences Advances Microbial Treatment for IVF Implantation Failure
Freya Biosciences announced that its microbial immunotherapy designed to address IVF implantation failure has progressed to a Phase 2 mid‑stage trial after demonstrating safety and early efficacy in healthy volunteers. The therapy leverages modulation of the uterine microbiome to improve endometrial...
AOP Health Reports the US FDA Approval Rapiblyk (Landiolol) for Pediatric Patients with Supraventricular Tachycardia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted approval for Rapiblyk (landiolol) for pediatric patients from birth through 17 years old suffering from supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). The decision follows the LANDI‑PED trial, which enrolled 60 children and demonstrated a greater...
AI Still Struggles to Outsmart New Video Games
Why #AI still can't beat a new video game by NYU Tandon School of Engineering @TechXplore_com Learn more: https://t.co/6eZFzHWTA9 #MachineLearning #ArtificialIntelligence #ML #MI https://t.co/avkWkt2vv7
Sweden Reports Cyberattack Attempt on Heating Plant Amid Rising Energy Threats
Sweden’s civil defense ministry confirmed that a pro‑Russian group attempted a cyberattack on a western heating plant in 2025, but the intrusion was stopped. The operation is tied to Russian intelligence and mirrors a wave of sabotage that has hit...