Welcome back to another week of Bells & Whistles!
I hope you all had a bright and heartwarming Diwali!
Last week at SpicyIP, we hosted a lively Q&A session on Higher Education in IP with scholars (Daanish, Malobika, Niharika, and Lokesh) who shared honest insights on everything from picking their university, navigating applications to finding their research footing. If you couldn’t join in, don’t worry, you can still watch it here on YouTube.
BELL OF THE WEEK
Some stories burn long after they’re told — Fire in the Blood (YouTube link) by Dylan Mohan Gray is one of them. The documentary captures the haunting reality of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa and the fight for access to affordable medicines, laying bare how corporate greed and global patent regimes kept life-saving drugs out of reach for millions.
It’s a powerful reminder that the right to health often collides with the politics of profit, and that behind every policy battle lies a deeply human cost. Watching it felt like witnessing the intersection of law, morality, and survival, the very crossroads where IP debates truly come alive.
EVENTS
1. WIPO Regional Webinar on ADR for R&D and Technology Transfer Disputes
28 October 2025 | 09:35 – 11:15 CET | Online (Zoom)
This webinar will explore how mediation and arbitration can effectively resolve conflicts that arise from research collaborations and technology transfer agreements. Participants will gain valuable insights into collaboration frameworks, discover WIPO ADR services, and benefit from hands-on case studies.
Register here
2. WIPO Conversation 12th Session – Intellectual Property (IP) and Synthetic Media
28 & 29 October 2025 | Virtual
Brief: This session will consider how existing IP frameworks apply to synthetic media, identifying gaps, new approaches, and disputes involving replicas of voice, image, and likeness rights.
More info
3. WIPO Conversation on Intellectual Property and Frontier Technologies
28 October 2025 | 29 October 2025 | Virtual
Brief: The twelfth session will explore legal and policy dimensions of synthetic media, including AI-generated images, video, audio and text, and their implications for IP law and regulation. Sessions will highlight challenges in voice, likeness, and personal attribute protection, and discuss possible new frameworks.
More info
4. India Initiative Webinar: Patent Pools, LNGs, and SEP Transparency (The GW Competition & Innovation Lab)
31 October 2025 | 6:30 – 7:30 PM IST | Virtual
Brief: The next session of the India Initiative Webinar Series will explore the evolving dynamics of Standard Essential Patent (SEP) licensing — with a focus on transparency, patent pools, and Licensing Negotiation Groups (LNGs). As patent pools gain global recognition, LNGs have recently emerged as a counterweight, raising both opportunities and antitrust concerns.
More info
5. AI and Copyright Discussion Series (OCEAN & Authors Alliance)
October – December 2025 | 12:00 PM Eastern | Online (Zoom)
Brief: The Open Copyright Education Advisory Network (OCEAN) and Authors Alliance are hosting a five-part discussion series on AI’s impact on copyright, authorship, and research. The first session (AI Copyright 101, October 24) kicked off the series, unpacking training data and copyrightability questions. The upcoming sessions continue to explore research implications, authorship, litigation, and institutional guidance for libraries, archives, and museums.
More Info
6. WIPO Online Mediation and Arbitration Workshop
18 – 20 November 2025 | 10:00 – 12:00 CET | Online
Brief: This three-day online workshop provides practical training on IP and technology dispute resolution through mediation and arbitration. Participants will gain hands-on experience with the WIPO Mediation, Arbitration, and Expedited Arbitration Rules, explore real case applications across industries, and learn to draft effective dispute resolution clauses. Participants who attend all three days will receive a Certificate of Participation.
More info
7. EUIPO Conference on Copyright – Navigating Copyright Together in an Evolving Digital Landscape
20 – 21 November 2025 | Alicante, Spain and Online
The EUIPO will host a high-level Conference on Copyright, bringing together experts from academia, EU institutions, the creative sector, and major stakeholder organizations. The event will celebrate copyright’s role in Europe’s digital future while fostering dialogue on emerging policy and regulatory challenges in an increasingly connected world. Speakers will include leading copyright scholars, policymakers, and artists, reflecting on how to build a more coordinated and forward-looking copyright framework across the EU.
More info
OPPORTUNITIES
1. National IP Awards 2025 (CGPDTM & DPIIT)
Extended Deadline: 30 October 2025
Organized by the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM) and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the National IP Awards 2025 invites applications from innovators, institutions, and businesses across India. The awards recognize exceptional achievements in IP creation, protection, and commercialization across categories such as patents, trademarks, and startups. Winners will be honored at a ceremony hosted by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) during the financial year 2025–2026.
More info
2. PhD Candidate in Law – Generative AI in the Media (Amsterdam Law School)
Deadline: 31 October 2025 | Amsterdam | Full-time PhD Position
Brief: This PhD project examines how emerging EU regulatory frameworks shape public values, power dynamics, and legal relationships in the use of generative AI within the media. It focuses on issues around AI-generated illegal and harmful content and their implications for governance and accountability.
More info
3. Research Publication Awards 2025 (Centre for Studies of Plural Societies)
Deadline: 30 November 2025
The Centre for Studies of Plural Societies (CSPS) invites applications for its First Research Publication Awards, offering ₹10,000 each to ten young scholars who have published or had accepted their first peer-reviewed paper in a reputed journal within the past six months in the social sciences or humanities. The initiative aims to promote academic diversity and encourages applications from women, rural and marginalized students, and minority scholars.
More info
4. PhD in Law – Technology and AI Governance (The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London)
Deadline: 1 December 2025 (First-round funding) | London | PhD Programme
Brief: King’s College London invites applications for its PhD in Law, with funded positions available for candidates interested in the intersection of law and technology. Research areas include AI and civic governance, privacy and accountability in the digital sphere, and freedom of expression in tech oversight.
More info
5. PhD in Law – Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge (University of Alberta)
Deadline: 1 December 2025
Brief: Dr. Faith Majekolagbe is inviting applications for a funded PhD position at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law. The selected candidate will serve as a Graduate Research Assistant, focusing on the intersections of Intellectual Property Law, Traditional Knowledge, and Cultural Expressions of Indigenous peoples and local communities. Applicants should apply to the PhD in Law program at the University of Alberta and list Professor Faith Majekolagbe as their prospective supervisor.
More info
6. PhD Scholarship – “AI and Copyright Law: The Problem of Authorship” (University of St Andrews & Macquarie University)
Deadline: 3 December 2025 | Scotland & Australia | PhD Position
Brief: Jointly funded by the University of St Andrews and Macquarie University, this PhD scholarship supports research exploring how AI challenges copyright’s concept of authorship, creativity, and ownership. Applicants with backgrounds in law, computer science, or both are welcome. The selected candidate will study across both institutions with full financial and research support.
More info
7. Call for Applications – Asia House Fellowship 2026/2027
Deadline: 31 January 2026
Brief: Now in its fifth year, the Asia House Fellowship offers early-career professionals the chance to contribute original research addressing real-world challenges across Asia and the Middle East. Fellows will conduct a 12-month research project, engaging with senior business leaders and policymakers through Asia House’s global network. Research themes include technology, data, and AI, alongside geopolitics, trade, energy, and sustainability. Two Fellowship positions are available for 2026/2027, each offering a £24,000 stipend.
More info
Thanks to Swaraj, Lokesh, Niharika and Daanish for the leads!
All non-sponsored listings featured here are events or opportunities free or nominally charged and ones we think our readers may be interested in. Sponsored listings will be marked as such. Unless specifically mentioned, SpicyIP has no affiliation to anything listed here. Know of an event worth sharing? Write to us at contact[at]spicyip[dot]com.