Join the conversation and get IP news faster on Twitter

Italy's IP courts are increasing from 12 to 21, following a legislative amendment; the EU announces an "ambitious" tobacco directive is coming in January; US companies are grilled over their IP and transfer pricing programmes. These were just some of the stories being tweeted or retweeted by Managing IP yesterday afternoon.

At the same time, Twitter is becoming a hub for debate. Managing IP uses twitter as a forum to question statistics, such as those on the potential impact of the unitary patent in Europe, or correcting reports that insist on talking about Apple's European design patents. And we welcome comments and questions from readers and others on twitter.

There are also serious discussions, such as the impact Barack Obama's reelection could have on IP in the US.

Michel Barnier, Neelie Kroes and OHIM in Europe all regularly tweet their news and views. In the US, academics Lawrence Lessig and Mark Lemley are among those who are prominent on twitter.

And no matter what conference you're at these days, a host of people – including, of course, Managing IP – are tweeting the best quotes and discussions with dedicated hash tags such as #INTASF or #FordhamIP, making it easy to find the reports you are interested in.

If you're not already on twitter, it is quick and easy to sign up and you can immediately choose who you want to follow. Whether you want to post your own tweets as well is, of course, up to you.

Search for @ManagingIP to start following, and find out who else from the world of IP is also on twitter.