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Unlike the US, Japan recognizes an employee's right to remuneration for inventions, causing companies some concern. Michael R Kelly and Naoki Yoshida of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner explain

Stéphanie Bodoni, London

Tony Morris, head of media, Marriott Harrison

A long-awaited new Civil Code of Ukraine, which was adopted on January 16 2003, finally came into force on January 1 2004. Book IV of the new Civil Code is devoted specifically to intellectual property rights protection. As well as summarizing IP provisions developed previously by special legislation, the new Civil Code adopts certain innovations with respect to intellectual property rights regulation - in particular regarding patents. This article discusses two of the major innovations, to which might be referred an amended order of regulation of patent licence agreements, as well as a new understanding of the validity term of a patent.

The Organic Act 15/2003, of November 25, amending the Criminal Code Act 10/1995, of November 23, was published in the Official State Gazette on November 26 2003. It introduced new types of criminal offences to adjust to the present-day social and criminal reality.

In Sweden, the Läkemedelsverket (Swedish Medical Products Agency) withdrew the authorization of parallel imports of the medicinal product Losec enterokapslar (Losec enteric capsules to treat conditions caused by stomach acid) into Sweden by Paranova only because the authorization for the directly imported medicinal product by the official Swedish distributor was withdrawn. One cannot place medicinal products on the market in a member state unless a marketing authorization has been issued by the competent authority of that member state (Article 3 of Directive 65/65/EEC of the Council of January 26 1965 as amended by Council Directive 93/39/EEC of June 14 1993). Parallel importer Paranova opposed to the decision to withdraw her authorization. Did Paranova succeed?

Generally a mark is composed of a word, logo, or a combination of both. A mark may also consist of letters, numbers, or combinations of both. The design of a logo may be an abstract design, stylization or simple reproduction of everyday objects or images. These types of marks are very familiar to the majority of consumers. However, in this age of new trends of marketing techniques and electronic commerce, the above-mentioned types of marks may no longer be enough to capture the attention of consumers.

Since the European Parliament's amendments of September 24 2003 to the Commission's proposal for a Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions - the Software Patent Directive - the debate on the extent to which software-related innovations should be patentable in Europe has turned into a somewhat hysterical battle between lobbyists.

On January 1 2004, Singapore joined most other PCT countries in having a PCT Chapter I national phase deadline of 30 months. Until now, a national phase entry application in Singapore under PCT Chapter I had to be filed within 20 months from the priority date (or international filing date if priority is not claimed).

As he prepares to leave the Office in June this year, outgoing EPO President Ingo Kober speaks to Stéphanie Bodoni about the growth in applications, the possibility of a Community Patent and the role of patent offices