IPKat is a law blog founded in June 2003, and dedicated to intellectual property law (IP). In 2008, it was reported as being "one of the best-known and most successful of all law blogs".

The content comprises news of recent judicial rulings, decisions of patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

 and trade mark granting authorities, primary and secondary legislation

Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

, practice and procedural notes and recent publications, together with comments.

A feature of the blog is the expression of opinions through the often contrasting observations made by two fictional cat

Cat

The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

s, the IPKat himself and his female companion Merpel. A third feline, the AmeriKat, analyses IP developments in the U.S.

The contributors to the IPKat weblog are Jeremy Phillips

Jeremy Phillips

Prof. Jeremy John Phillips is a British academic, author and commentator in intellectual property law. He is reported to be "a respected IP academic" and "a well-known figure among IP lawyers."...

, Birgit Clark, Mark Schweizer, Annsley Merelle Ward (a.k.a. "the AmeriKat"), and Neil J. Wilkof. Johanna Gibson

Johanna Gibson

Johanna Gibson is Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law in the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London, where she is also Director of the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute...

 stepped down in January 2009, as did David Pearce in February 2011.

In July 2005, IPKat was named in Managing Intellectual Property

Managing Intellectual Property

Managing Intellectual Property is a monthly magazine published in English and specializes in intellectual property. It was founded in 1990 and claims to have more than 10,000 readers. MIP is part of the Euromoney Legal Media Group. Jeremy Phillips launched the magazine and sold it to Euromoney...

magazine as one of the 50 most influential people in the IP world. Jeremy Phillips, founder of IPKat, launched the Managing Intellectual Property magazine and sold it to Euromoney Publications in 1991. In August 2008, IPKat was voted top of the 'IT law and governance' category in Computer Weekly

Computer Weekly

ComputerWeekly was a weekly magazine for IT professionals which was published by Reed Business Information for over 40 years. The magazine was available free to IT professionals who met the circulation requirements...

 magazine's 2008 IT blog awards.

In January 2010, the United States Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 selected the IPKat for inclusion in its historic collections of Internet materials related to Legal Blawgs. In December 2010, IPKat was selected as one of the American Bar Association

American Bar Association

The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...

's Top 100 Legal Blawgs.

IPKat is a registered Community Trade Mark

Community Trade Mark

A Community M application in any member state can defeat the entire application, a CTM registration is enforceable in all member states.The CTM system is administered by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market , which is located in Alicante, Spain .- Character and advantages :The...

(Registered Number: 008150286).