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According with the Mexican Industrial Property Law (IPL), a single colour may not constitute a trade mark, thus resulting in an absolute ground for refusal. Indeed, section V of article 90 establishes that the following are not allowed to be registered as trade marks: "letters, digits or isolated colours, unless they are combined or enclosed with other elements such as signs, designs or words which provide them with a distinctive character".

When the world's richest man hires the architect of the world's most lucrative licensing schedule, the international IP community takes notice. Sam Mamudi visited Microsoft's Seattle headquarters to learn more about Marshall Phelps's plans for the software leader and his views on the IP system

EU: The European Commission's new draft block exemption for technology transfer aims to change the competition rules applicable to the licensing of patents, know how and software copyright by reducing the regulatory burden for companies, giving them more freedom to respond to commercial needs, and to improve the TTBE's clarity and scope. Spain: The country's recent accession to the Geneva Act (1999) of the Hague Agreement concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs means it has reached the required number of accessions to enter into force on December 23 this year. Spain is the 11th contracting state following Estonia, Georgia, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. Sweden: Domain name owners will be able to register their domains in the Swedish language including all its accents, dots and rings. Registrar NIC-SE, which manages the Swedish top-level domain .se, introduced the plans to allow users to apply for domain names including the signs å, ä, ö, ü and é in addition to the standard alphabetical and numerical signs. UK: Copyright laws moved closer towards a US-type regime when the new Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003, which implement the EU Copyright Directive, entered into force at the end of October. UK: The Patent Office has published a guide on its website aimed at informing designers about what to look out for when preparing their application for a design registration in the UK.

Valery Medvedev explains how recent amendments to Russia's trade mark law will benefit rights owners and, opposite, examines the implications of the new Patent Law

In the second part of the eighth annual World IP Survey, MIP reveals the top-ranked firms for trade mark/copyright work in 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Asia and North America. Below, we explain how the results were compiled

A decision by the European Court of Justice could undermine the language regime of Community trade marks (CTMs), leading to extra costs and possible delays.

Sam Mamudi, New York

The new system of resolving domain name disputes in Hong Kong is a great improvement on the old method. Domain name owners can now make use of a quicker and cheaper way to assert their rights, explain Christopher Tung and Minny Siu

Stéphanie Bodoni, London

Stéphanie Bodoni, London