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David Haigh and Michael Rocha explain why the new international accounting standards will have important implications for owners of IP assets, especially brands

Big drugs companies want Hong Kong to give them more protection from generics. Emma Barraclough looks at the arguments in favour of US-style protection and assesses the likelihood of such a system being adopted

Pakistan's long-awaited trade mark law came into force in April. Hasan Irfan Khan explains the benefits and highlights the potential pitfalls for trade mark owners

New EU-wide rules on tobacco advertising are wide-reaching, and could affect the use of non-tobacco related trade marks as well. Jenni Rutter and Tania D'Souza-Culora examine the risks in key EU states, and look at what brand owners should do to protect themselves

In late December of 2003, the Argentine INPI (Patent and Trademark Office) issued resolution P-243, which enacted the first Patentability Guidelines in the country.

China now offers plant growers more protection for their variety rights than ever before. Matthew Murphy and Kellie Wu explain how agribusiness companies can negotiate the country’s rules and regulations to tap a potentially lucrative market

The Colombian Trade Mark Office has recently applied the Inter-American Convention in a trade mark opposition procedure.

EU: On May 19 the European Council of Ministers adopted a compromise proposal by the EU Irish Presidency on the patenting of computer-implemented inventions with the adoption. The compromise restricts the scope of patent protection purely to computer-implemented inventions. EU: The European Commission outlined rules for the implementation and functions as well as the registration principles of the .eu top-level domain. The rules establish who can register a name, who can be an accredited registrar and the ADR service for the new domain. EU: During a May 17 and 18 meeting, the trade ministers of the 25 EU countries again failed to agree plans for a Community patent. The failure came after the leaders of more than 300 international companies signed a petition urging the European Council of Ministers to reach an agreement over the Community patent. The petition was organized by the European Association for Bioindustries (EuropaBio) with the support of several national biotechnology associations. EU: The European Council of Ministers adopted the Directive on measures and procedures to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights just six days before the EU's expansion to 25 countries, on April 26. The Directive strengthens the remedies available to rights holders, but not include controversial criminal sanctions provisions. UK: The UK amended its trade mark law on May 5, and now requires trade mark owners to prove use of earlier trade marks that are more than five years old in opposition and invalidation procedures. A streamlined opposition procedure has also been introduced, as has a new right for the PTO to give a preliminary indication on some opposition cases.

James Nurton, London

Drug maker Pfizer is to train Chinese officials in ways to spot fake medicines in an effort to tackle the country's growing counterfeit drug problem.