IP and Other Things: a Collection of Essays and Speeches by Sir Robin Jacob ,523pp, hardback. ISBN 9781849465953. Price £65,Hart Publishing,

IP and Other Things: a Collection of Essays and Speeches, by Katfriend and judge-turned-academic Sir Robin Jacob, is evidently not the author's last word on the subject since the book's web page describes it as the "First Edition". Considering the vast number of occasions on which this popular and approachable personality has essayed and speeched, it may be expected that there are many further editions to come.  It's a handsome volume but one which will inevitably disappoint any of its readers who have had the opportunity of listening to Sir Robin in person. This because the medium of print cannot capture the wit, the spontaneity, the force and the sense of being utterly and unchallengeably right which have characterised so many of Sir Robin's finest performances over the years. It is hardly the fault of either the author or the publisher, but the evidence is there for all to see.  With all this attractions, this well-produced volume just sits on the desk and waits for something to happen.  It doesn't argue; it doesn't fight; it doesn't let slip the occasional word that you might prefer your aged and saintly grandmother not to hear.  It doesn't do anything unless you turn the pages -- and to enjoy it at its best you have to read the purple passages as Robin would have delivered them in the first place: with power and with passion.

According to the publishers (Bloomsbury, who also publish Harry Potter):

The Rt Hon Professor Sir Robin Jacob has been variously a leading member of the Intellectual Property Bar, a High Court judge and, as Lord Justice Jacob, a judge in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales [but don't let this put you off, says Merpel]. His primary area of expertise is intellectual property (IP) rights. He chose to leave the Court of Appeal in March 2011 to take up his current position as the Sir Hugh Laddie Chair in intellectual property at University College London. He still sits occasionally in the Court of Appeal and is a door tenant at 8 New Square. These essays, selected from his published and unpublished writings and lectures, illustrate the breadth of his learning in IP and other matters. They are written in typically straightforward and entertaining style and, in the case of the older essays, a commentary of what has happened since they were first published. They will be of interest to any lawyer, law student or scholar interested in the development of IP law in the past quarter century.

Definitely worth taking a peep!