EPO strives to uphold patent quality in Europe Quality of search and examination is top of the list of demands from most patent applicants. MIP asked EPO President Alain Pompidou what the Office is doing to ensure that standards are maintained
Flavour of the month in Brussels In Brussels, everyone is talking about SMEs. Anne Kristine Jensen, project manager for IP and competition at the Stockholm Network, reviews a recent workshop that addressed their needs and activities with regard to IP rights
A rocky road to harmonization The state of implementation of the EU Directive on the enforcement of IP rights varies across Europe, although progress has been made in virtually all jurisdictions. Hub. Harmeling and Bas Berghuisvan Woortman provide an update on the most significant markets
Waiting for a prescription from the ECJ There is little consistency in the decisions of OHIM's Opposition Division, Boards of Appeal and the Court of First Instance regarding pharmaceutical trade marks. But, say Jean L Pire and Sandra R Paulsson, some guidance is now expected from the European Court of Justice
The over-sized diversification criterion Franck Soutoul, Jean-Philippe Bresson and Sophie Normand analyze the specific approach of French courts on the similarity of clothing products and consider the consequences for your trade mark strategy
How to choose the best strategy for your brands Marlous Stal-Hilders of Nederlandsch Octrooibureau provides a brief outline of the advantages and disadvantages of the various systems available for protecting trade marks in Europe
How to handle oppositions Marina Benassi of Novagraaf Netherlands and Helene Whelbourn of JE Evans-Jackson & Co, both part of the Novagraaf Group, compare opposition proceedings before OHIM, in the Benelux and in the UK
