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Growing demand for highly skilled employees in China means high staff turnover and the risk that your company's IP could end up in your competitors' hands. Connie Carnabuci explains how well-drafted employment agreements could protect you

Apple Corps, the Beatles' own record label, is to appeal a ruling handed down by the High Court of England and Wales on May 8 which cleared Apple Computer of breaching a trade mark co-existence agreement by using its Apple logo on its iTunes music downloading service.

Once again the Swedish legislator has looked into abolishing the traditional teacher's exception, which gives Swedish university researchers and teachers full ownership and control of their research results. The inquiry addresses a few interesting questions, and was motivated by the finding that not enough research results from Swedish universities are used, either commercially or any other way that benefits the surrounding community.

In order to protect their valuable brands from infringement and dilution, American companies often engage in a diligent monitoring of the marketplace for third party uses of marks that may be confusingly similar to their brands. These monitoring programmes typically include a review of every domain name registration which incorporates a formative of the company's particular trade mark. Aggressive trade mark owners will take enforcement measures against third party owners of domain names incorporating formatives of the mark at issue. These aggressive tactics can often lead the trade mark owner into conflict with a foreign entity using the identical mark and owning a domain name registration which incorporates such mark.

The Intellectual Property Office Of Singapore has recently issued a consultation paper that proposed a PCT national phase track for national phase entry applications in Singapore. The proposed track entails revisions to existing search and examination timelines and grant fee deadlines for these patent applications.

Russian law does not allow different medicines to be registered under the same name, and a single medicine cannot be registered under different names. However, medicines that comprise the same basic pharmaceutical ingredients might have different fillers (auxiliary substances) and different dosages, and so should be named differently.

The Indian courts, as well as granting permanent injunctions and general damages that are compensatory in nature, also grant punitive damages, which aim to be a deterrent. Punitive damages were granted in Time Incorporated v Lokesh Srivastava & Anr (2005 (30) PTC 3 (Del)), where the court held that punitive damages were founded on the philosophy of corrective justice and so must be awarded to show wrongdoers that the law does not take a breach merely as a matter between rival parties but is concerned about those who are not party to the proceedings but suffer on account of the breach.

With the impending free trade agreement negotiations with the US, the Malaysian government appears to be making new moves to strengthen intellectual property rights enforcement. Specialized IP courts are proposed and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has also proposed that the copyright laws be amended to prosecute building owners with the offence of allowing their premises to be used for storing, selling or distributing counterfeit materials.

The Korean National Assembly recently made amendments to the Patent Act and the Utility Model Act, which came into effect on March 3 2006. The amendments make three specific changes that will immediately benefit applicants filing in Korea.

Emma Barraclough, Hong Kong