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The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (the office) published the New Trademark Examination Guideline (guideline) on September 30 2019. The guideline defines the criteria for the examination of trademark applications on absolute grounds within the scope of the Industrial Property Code (IP Code) that came into force in 2017.

In Fifth Generation Inc. v Titomirov Vodka LLC, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) issued a precedential ruling, granting Fifth Generation's motion for summary judgment as a sanction in view of Titomirov Vodka's failure to comply with the TTAB's orders, as well as its pattern and practice of avoiding its discovery obligations.

In an attempt to improve examination efficiency, the amended Patent Act which took effect from November 1 2019 now prescribes tight time limits for the invalidation petitioner to file additional reasons and evidence after filing an invalidation action and the patentee to file a counter-statement or a claim amendment. This will inevitably affect the strategies that the two opposing parties may use during the proceedings of an invalidation action.

Brazilian IP law believes that renowned marks deserve special protection in all fields of activity. Differently from well-known marks, which are protected within their field of activity and regardless of the existence of a local registration, renowned marks must be registered and then go through a specific proceeding at the BPTO for a declaration of high renown which will be valid for 10 years.

Wu Xiaohui of Wanhuida assesses when a medical use claim is supported by the patent description

A question is occasionally asked whether Russian courts treat foreign companies in the same way as Russian companies. The answer is usually a soothing one in that all parties in a conflict are on the same footing. The case examined below sheds more light on the stance of the courts.

For EU trademarks filed before June 22 2012, the scope of protection granted at the time of registration encompasses even goods and services that may later be added by a declaration, if the trademark was originally protected for all the goods and services under the heading of its Nice class. Furthermore, the consideration of evidence not presented in due course can be reprimanded, but does not vacate the judgment if the belated evidence was not of vital importance but merely additional evidence.

A problem that impacts day to day in our country, and specifically the owners of trademarks, is the deficient or lack of regulation in our legislation regarding what is and what should be understood by "use of a trademark", "use of a trademark in accordance with the customs and habits" and "effective use v token use".

There were two interesting trademark judgments in Mauritius recently. Although these judgments do not contain any groundbreaking law, they do highlight how keen the Mauritian authorities are to attract foreign investment. Part of this process seems to involve making trademark protection and enforcement easily accessible. One way of doing that is to follow foreign precedents closely, particularly UK and European authorities.

The reversal of burden of proof in civil proceedings concerning the enforcement of rights for patents for processes is a provision that exists in the laws of many countries, including Greece.