Pfizer sells Chinese IP to seal Wyeth deal US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has sold the Chinese IP rights for a swine flu vaccine to a domestic company to comply with an anti-monopoly review by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The company has sold the Chinese patent rights to Harbin Pharmaceutical Group and will provide the company with technical assistance and training on how to use the vaccine for up to three years. Pfizer said on January 26 last year that it would buy US rival Wyeth for $68 billion in cash and stock. On June 9 the company submitted its merger filing with the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of China's Ministry of Commerce. In September last year the Bureau asked Pfizer to divest its vaccine business for mycoplasma hyponeumoniae, a type of pneumonia in pigs, in China, on the grounds that since Wyeth sold a similar vaccine the merger would give the new company control of over half the domestic market.

Australia's top court boosts brand owners The High Court of Australia has ruled that the use of a trade mark in Australia does not have to be made with the knowledge or authority of the trade mark owner. The decision, in which the Court allowed the appeal of US wine maker E&J Gallo Winery against the non-use cancellation of its Barefoot trade mark for wine, is only the second time Australia's highest court has considered Australia's Trade Marks Act since it was amended in 1995. In 2005 Gallo bought a company called Barefoot Cellars and acquired the Barefoot trade mark for wine in Australia. In January 2008, Australian beer company Lion Nathan began selling a new beer incorporating lemon and lime flavours called Barefoot Radler. When Gallo launched infringement proceedings, Lion Nathan attempted to cancel the Barefoot trade mark for wine for non-use and argued that wine and beer were not similar goods. The Federal Court of Australia found in favour of Lion Nathan on both points. On appeal, the Full Federal Court accepted that wine and beer were similar goods but upheld the decision to cancel the trade mark for three years' non-use. Gallo appealed to the High Court.

Patent attorney elected prime minister in Japan Naoto Kan, who was elected prime minister by members of parliament from the Democratic Party of Japan on June 4, has been a registered patent attorney for almost 30 years and also patented an automatic calculator for scoring the game of mahjong. Prime Minister Kan, 63, is the son of a businessman – unlike his five predecessors who were the sons of former ministers or prime ministers. He graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology with a degree in physics and registered as a patent attorney (benrishi) in 1971. He worked at Odajima Patent Office until 1974, when he established his own firm, called Kan Patent Office. This later became Kan, Takahashi Patent and Law Firm. Kan's political career began in 1974 and he was elected to Japan's lower house in 1980. Although he is still registered as a patent attorney today and is enrolled as a member of Hirayama & Company International Patent, Design and Trademark Attorneys, he is not believed to be still actively prosecuting patents.

Gene patents under attack in Australia National consumer organisation Cancer Voices Australia and Yvonne D'Arcy, a woman from Brisbane with breast cancer, filed their case in the Federal Court of Australia to invalidate a patent related to a test for breast cancer in June.

The dispute focuses on the patent that covers a gene known as BRCA1 (patent no 686004). In March this year a New York district court invalidated seven patents on human genes that were related to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. "The impact of the case will depend on how serious and how credible the attack is," said Wayne Condon, a partner and patent litigation specialist at Griffith Hack in Melbourne. Myriad Genetics, a US company, owns the patents that are used for the BRCA breast cancer screening test. In Australia it licenses these patents to Genetic Technologies. The controversy over gene patents in Australia erupted in August 2008, when Genetic Technologies sent letters to hospitals and research centres asking them to stop testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations or pay a licence. The Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs then began an investigation into gene patents. It is due to report at the end of August this year.

Chinese regulations raise essential facilities concern The Chinese government has published draft regulations interpreting the country's antitrust law which contains language that IP owners say is worryingly vague. China's Anti-Monopoly Law came into effect on August 1 2008. China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce, one of three agencies enforcing the Law, published three draft sets of rules on May 25 to help with implementation. Article 4 of the draft regulations on prohibiting the use of dominant marketing positions states that a business operator with a dominant market position is forbidden "without legitimate reasons" from: "(a) cutting back on existing transaction amounts with other parties; (b) halting existing transactions with other parties; (c) refusing to enter into new transactions with other parties; (d) posing restrictive conditions which make it difficult for other parties to continue transactions with it; or (e) disallowing other parties' reasonable use of its necessary facilities in production and operational activities." "This goes much beyond what US and EU law says," said Adrian Emch, a consultant with Hogan Lovells in Beijing.

China and India raise ACTA concerns Tensions between developed and developing countries over the draft Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) surfaced last month at a meeting of the WTO TRIPs Council. According to the WTO, China and India, supported by other developing countries, "are concerned about provisions that go beyond the standards of the TRIPs Agreement in bilateral, regional and plurilateral agreements, in this case on enforcement". China and India made lengthy statements at the meeting on June 8 and 9 arguing that ACTA could conflict with TRIPs; undermine the existing balance of rights, obligations and flexibilities; distort trade or create trade barriers; force governments to focus IP resources on enforcement; and set a precedent for other countries. But those countries involved in ACTA discussions voiced concerns about the increasing level of counterfeiting and piracy, its industrial scale and the threat to developing countries. They also denied the charges made by China and India that ACTA would upset the balance and affect existing agreements.

China cracks down on sales of fakes online China's government has introduced measures to regulate online trading that could help brand owners restrict the sale of counterfeit products through online trading platforms. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Merchandise Trading and Related Services came into effect on July 1. A high proportion of sales of fakes online come from websites and vendors based in China, but brand owners have struggled to find a way to counter these sales. These SAIC interim measures attempt to control the trade by requiring any individual who wants to engage in online commerce to use their name, address and "other genuine identity data". If an individual or company has registered with an AIC and has a business licence then they should also include this data and put it on any webpage promoting their items.