Asia-Pacific

In a decision published on June 26 2020, the Indonesian Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling against a celebrity who sought to acquire prior rights to a disputed mark and then cancel a competitor’s trademark. The decision demonstrates some limit on the jurisdiction’s first-to-file position, which has historically been strictly applied and enforced both by courts and by the Indonesian IP Office. The Supreme Court also upheld the cancellation of some of the celebrity’s trademarks due to his previous work for the defendant as a brand ambassador, serving as a cautionary tale to potential bad faith plaintiffs.

Track and trace smartphone applications used in the fight against COVID-19 are representative of a relatively new industry falling between the healthcare, IT, medical devices and pharmaceutical sectors.

Mānuka is the Māori name for the Leptospermum scoparium, a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Mānuka nectar is renowned for producing 'liquid gold', a pure honey possessing unique medicinal and antibacterial qualities.

As of October 1 2019, the Tokyo District Court and the Osaka District Court started operating a new practice for mediation concerning IP rights (IP mediation). IP mediation is designed to solve disputes over IP rights in a simple and speedy way by obtaining opinions on the dispute, in principle, by the third mediation date, from the mediation committee composed of the judge of the IP division and experts such as lawyers and patent attorneys with vast experience in dealing with IP cases. IP mediation is a judicial service providing the third dispute resolution tool within the framework of existing laws. It is unique and different from litigation and provisional disposition.

近年、中国市場規模の継続的な成長、中国の知的財産保護環境の改善、人々の知的財産保護への意識の高まりに伴い、中国における特許・商標の出願件数と知的財産紛争は急速に増加している。企業は、大量の特許・商標出願件数がもたらす紛争リスクに対し、それらを見逃さず、積極的に対応する必要がある。また、安全な生産と運営活動を守るために、中国の知的財産保護の現状について理解を深め、知的財産制度を最大限に活用する必要がある。以下、知的財産レイアウト、知的財産紛争、法規制の推移の観点から、中国における特許・商標の出願と保護の現状及び動向について分析する。

経済協力開発機構（OECD）は、2020年の「エコノミック・アウトルック」第2020巻第1号で、世界のほぼすべての国々に影響を及ぼしているパンデミックによる経済活動の急落から、2021年に日本が緩やかに回復すると予測しています。 OECDによると、これは、日本政府が家計、企業、雇用を支援するための幅広い対策を打ち出すことにより、これまでにない経済支援をしたことによるものです。