Welcome back to another week of Bells & Whistles.
As always, we’ve also brought together a selection of events and opportunities from across the IP ecosystem for the week ahead.
Bell of the Week: The Open Source Hardware Association
Some bells do not just share ideas, they share the blueprints.
This week’s bell is for the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA), an organisation that has a simple yet transformative idea: innovation can be shared not only through words, code and research, but through physical designs themselves.
When we think of openness, our minds often turn to open-source software, open-access journals, or freely available educational resources. Hardware, however, has traditionally occupied a different space. Physical products require materials, manufacturing, testing and distribution, making them appear less amenable to collaborative creation and sharing.
Yet the open-source hardware movement challenges precisely this assumption. It asks: what if the designs behind a product could be openly shared, studied, modified, improved and redistributed? What if innovation could be accelerated not by limiting access to knowledge, but by enabling others to build upon it?
Over the years, this idea has found expression in a remarkable range of fields, from scientific instruments and medical devices to agricultural tools, electronics and assistive technologies. By encouraging transparency and collaboration, open-source hardware has helped create communities of makers, researchers, engineers and enthusiasts who collectively contribute to the development of practical solutions.
Of course, openness is not without its challenges. Questions of sustainability, funding, quality control and the interaction between open designs and conventional intellectual property frameworks continue to shape the movement’s evolution. Sharing a design is often easier than manufacturing it and openness does not automatically resolve the practical realities of production and distribution.
Yet perhaps that is what makes this bell worth ringing. It reminds us that innovation need not always be understood as a solitary endeavour or a closely guarded asset. Sometimes, progress emerges when people are invited not merely to consume a finished product, but to understand it, improve it and build upon it. Some bells do not just share ideas, they share the blueprints for what comes next.
EVENTS
1. Panel Discussion: “Legacy & History of Open Culture” | Creative Commons 25th Anniversary
16 June 2026 | 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM (UTC) | Online (Zoom)
As part of the Creative Commons 25th anniversary celebrations, this panel discussion will explore the “Legacy & History of Open Culture” and reflect on how principles of access, sharing, and collaboration evolved into a global movement for open knowledge and culture. The discussion will feature Medhavi Gandhi, Founder of The Heritage Lab; Merete Sanderhoff, Curator and Senior Advisor of Digital Museum Practice at SMK – National Gallery of Denmark; and Giovanna Fontenelle, Program Officer for Content Enablement at the Wikimedia Foundation. The session will examine the historical development and continuing impact of open culture initiatives across heritage, museums, and digital knowledge ecosystems.
More info | Register here
2. Closing the Gender Gap in Intellectual Property (IP): Women in Sports and IP – WIPO
30 June 2026 | 13:30 – 15:00 (Geneva Time) | Online
Organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization, this session on “Closing the Gender Gap in Intellectual Property (IP): Women in Sports and IP” will explore the role of intellectual property in supporting and empowering women in sport.
More info | Register here
OPPORTUNITIES
1. PhD Scholarship | School of Law, University College Cork
Application Deadline: 19 June 2026 | 5:00 PM (GMT)
The University College Cork School of Law is inviting applications for a fully funded PhD scholarship commencing in Autumn 2026. Open to both EU and non-EU applicants, the scholarship covers full tuition fees and provides a stipend of €25,000 per year for up to four years. Successful candidates may also have access to separately remunerated opportunities in teaching and tutoring during their doctoral studies. The award offers an excellent opportunity for aspiring legal scholars to pursue doctoral research within a leading Irish law school.
More info
2. Call for Applications: ICON·S South Asia Chapter Annual Workshop & Conference for Early-Career Scholars
Abstract Deadline: 30 June 2026 | Workshop & Conference: 8–10 January 2027 | Colombo, Sri Lanka
The ICON·S South Asia Chapter invites applications for its inaugural Annual Workshop and Conference for Early-Career Scholars, to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Designed for emerging scholars working in and on South Asia, the programme offers an opportunity to present works-in-progress, receive detailed feedback from peers and senior academics, and build scholarly networks across the region. The event will comprise a two-day workshop (8–9 January 2027) focused on intensive discussion and mentoring, followed by an in-person conference (10 January 2027) featuring paper presentations and capacity-building sessions with the wider public law community.
More info
3. Call for Papers: Journal of Intellectual Property Studies (JIPS), Volume X, Issue II | NLU Jodhpur
Submission Deadline: 15 July 2026
The Board of Editors of the Journal of Intellectual Property Studies (JIPS) invites original and unpublished manuscripts for publication in Volume X, Issue II of the Journal. Submissions are welcome in the form of articles and notes addressing issues in intellectual property law and related areas such as media law and technology law. Committed to the principles of open-access scholarship, the Journal publishes all accepted contributions online, making them freely accessible for reading and citation.
More info
4. Law & AI Academic Fellowship | Institute for Law & AI
Application Deadline: 31 July 2026
The Institute for Law and AI has announced its inaugural Law & AI Academic Fellowship, a full-time, two-year programme designed as an alternative to traditional Visiting Assistant Professor and law fellowship pathways for scholars seeking careers in US legal academia. The fellowship aims to support emerging legal academics working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, law, and policy by providing the time, mentorship, and resources necessary to produce high-quality scholarship for publication in leading law journals. Fellows will spend the majority of their time conducting research and writing while developing a competitive academic job-market portfolio. The position offers a salary of USD 130,000 per year and access to mentorship from LawAI’s network of researchers and affiliates.
More info
Thanks to Swaraj 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.
