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The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) has released guidelines for patent claims covering methods of treatment and Swiss-style claims on its website (www.iponz.govt.nz). They have been issued in an attempt to give applicants some clarity about what may or may not be patentable. In its guidelines, IPONZ has said that each patent application will be considered on its merits and that the guidelines are simply that: guidelines.

A number of recent Australian cases have narrowed the ability of traders to claim a monopoly in a pure colour for use as a trade mark.

The National Copyright Administration of the People's Republic of China (NCAC) has launched a public consultation on the imposition of royalties on Karaoke establishments for use of musical works and music videos in their business. The NCAC has generally approved the centralized collection of royalties by the Music Copyright Society of China () and the China Audio & Video Collective Administration Association (in preparation) (). The proposed tariff is Rmb12 ($1.50) for one room for one day. The consultation will close on September 20 2006.

On June 12 2006 a new Industrial Property Code came into force in Mozambique. This article focuses on the main changes brought about by the Code in respect of trade marks, and the consequences of counterfeiting and other infringements of various rights.

On January 1 2006 a new obligation law introducing non-material damages in Croatian court procedures came into force. The law for the first time provides legal entities with an opportunity to claim non-material damages based on injury to their personal rights in court procedures.

Oscar M Becerril of Becerril, Coca & Becerril, SC explains that parties to technology licensing agreements in Mexico are generally free to act without government intervention. But, he adds, close attention should be paid to the anti-trust law, especially in agreements that do not include patents or copyright

The ECJ dealt a deadly blow to cross-border patent litigation in two long-awaited decisions handed down in July. But in his review of the state of multinational patent litigation in Europe in the wake of the rulings, Reinhardt Schuster concludes that forum shopping may not be so bad for litigants

The Japanese courts recently vetoed a drug company's efforts to stop generic rivals from selling their products in lookalike packaging. John Tessensohn and Shusaku Yamamoto explain what the trade dress decision means for the pharmaceutical industry in one of the world's most lucrative drugs markets

A monthly column devoted to IP curiosities and controversies, named in honour of John of Utynam - who received the world's first recorded patent in 1449

The .mobi domain name promises IP owners an innovative new way of attracting would-be customers to their websites via their mobile phones. But does the explosion in domain names around the world mean that IP owners are too jaded to care? Shahnaz Mahmud discusses the issues with Pinkard ''Pinky'' Brand, .mobi's director of new markets