Knut, 2006 to 2011

The innocence of youth:
Knut in happier times

tytoc collie regrets to inform readers of the sad and untimely death of Knut, the celebrated polar bear who took the world of intellectual property by storm. The BBC has reported this morning that his death this weekend has reopened debate on the "ethical minefield of man's relationship with wild animals".  According to the BBC,

"Knut was born in Berlin Zoo in December 2006. Rejected by his mother, he was put in an incubator and brought up by humans. His abandonment, cute looks and close relationship with the charismatic zookeeper Thomas Doerflein, turned him into a huge star. He became an environmental symbol, acting as a mascot for the German government's campaign against climate change and being superimposed into a photograph with Leonardo DiCaprio for Vanity Fair's Green Issue in May 2007".

The cause of death has not yet been ascertained.  Despite his immense popularity, Knut never married.

IPKat posts on Knut here and here
MARQUES Class 46 posts on Knut here, here, here and here
Some Knut trade mark registrations here
Wikipedia entry on Knut here

Further reading

"Knut, Flocke, and Co: the bear facts revealed" by Dr Birgit Clark, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (2008) 3 (12): 764-774 (available in full here)

Muffin

This weblog regrets to inform readers of the sad death yesterday of Muffin, who had been unwell for some months. An elderly cat even when she joined the Phillips family in June 2003 from an institution for unwanted felines, she valued her privacy and rarely took the limelight.  She treasured the small pleasures of life such as sleeping in the garden's sunny patches, digging in the newly-cleaned litter tray and keeping vigil at the front window when her owners were expected home.

It was at the very point at which discussion of the naming of this weblog was in progress that the arrival of Muffin in a wicker basket prompted the suggestion that the blog be called the "IP Cat", which soon metamorphosed into tytoc collie.

Muffin had few close friends and never married.

No letters of condolence or flowers, please.  Requies-kat in pace ...

Paul the octopus

Paul the pundit, prince of prediction. Paul the octopus, who made a name for himself during this year's football World Cup by correctly predicted the outcome of eight matches, passed away yesterday in an aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany.  He was two and a half years old [says Merpel, that's about 87 in human years].

An English octopus hailing from Weymouth on the south-west coast, Paul's talents were unrecognised in the land of his birth.  However, taking advantage of the European Court of Justice's Bosman ruling on freedom of labour within the European Community, he soon crossed the Channel to the Continent, where prospects for a predictive octopus are rosy. He settled into his new aquarium, out-musseled his rivals and was soon (s)quids-in.

Hmm, says tytoc collie,
anyone can be an octopus
if they really want ...

Paul's particular technique for calculating the outcome of a football fixture involved selecting a mussel from one of two boxes bearing the flags of competing teams. This is not unlike the method employed by English national team manager Fabio Capello, whose team selection involved picking, from a box of chocolates, confections marked with the names of squad members.  Paul was however more successful, which is why he still had an interest in the tournament after Capello and the England team had crossed the Channel from the Continent, to a land where prospects for even failed footballers were rosy. Anyway, according to the BBC website,

"As the tournament progressed, the octopus's uncanny knack of selecting the correct box drew increasing interest from the world's media, culminating in his choice of Spain as the eventual winner.

He became an instant hero in Spain, prompting a request to have him put on display at Madrid zoo".

For the record, a documentary has been filmed, and books and toys are already planned for the Christmas market. A bachelor, he enjoyed the close company of his devoted keeper. A memorial is to be erected at the aquarium in his memory.

tytoc collie's recommended reading:
Report in The Guardian on Paul's death and the conspiracy theory
Spanish recipes for octopus here and [not for the squeamish] here
Paul the octopus in search of a trade mark in happier days: see Class 46 here, here and here