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In a decision (BGH X ZB 4/14, "Verdickerpolymer II"), the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has resolved the question of third party interventions to ex parte proceedings. The BGH found that there is no legal basis for third party interventions to ex parte proceedings of the patent proprietor requesting reinstatement even when the third party is sued for infringement of the patent in suit.

The Indonesian IP Office will soon accept electronic filing for new trade mark applications, trade mark renewal applications, patent applications and industrial design applications. The Indonesian IP Office is expecting to launch the electronic filing by the end of this year. Several post-registration services, such as recordation of assignment rights, change of name and address, as well as change of trade mark attorney, are scheduled to be launched in 2016.

Trade marks for perfumes are as unique as they are important. They are different from other marks in that not only their final result is a non-material smell but also that requirements for their ability to be registered are specific, especially those with a foreign tinge.

In January 2015, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and Cambodia's Ministry of Industry and Handicraft (MIH) for aligning the IP regimes of the two countries. Following the IPOS/Cambodia MoU, on September 21 2015, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and IPOS signed a new MoU. With these two MoUs, IPOS expands its global leadership role by cementing its global ties with UKIPO and opening a new entry into Cambodia's IP regime.

On May 22 2015, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) rendered a decision granting orders for a surcharge to four cathode-ray tube (CRT) manufacturers in southeast Asia based on the Japanese Antimonopoly Act. The total surcharges amounted to about ¥3.2 billion ($26 million). The companies subject to the order are MT Picture Display Indonesia, MT Picture Display Malaysia, MT Picture Display Thailand, belonging to Panasonic group, and Samsung SDI Malaysia, belonging to Samsung group. The CRT manufacturers in southeast Asia and their parent companies were found to have formed a price cartel in selling CRTs to TV manufacturers in southeast Asia.

Since being established in 2008, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Court has in its judgments adopted successively the public dedication doctrine developed from US practice. For instance, in a decision rendered in a patent infringement case in 2012, the IP Court pointed out that: for an embodiment disclosed in the specification but not claimed in the claims, it should be deemed to be dedicated to the public, and the claims may not be substantially broadened or altered after publication of the allowance of the patent application based on the disclosure of the specification. This may prohibit an applicant from disclosing his invention in a broader sense in the specification but claiming a narrower scope in the claims so as to facilitate allowance and later asserting a broader scope based on the specification in case of infringement disputes.

On September 11 2015, the Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) issued a decision to withdraw the marketing authorisations (MAs) for nine pharmaceutical products on the market. While this is a fairly routine occurrence, what was notable was that two of the drugs on the list had their MAs withdrawn as a result of patent infringement – one of the first times this has happened in Vietnam. The withdrawal makes a strong statement that Vietnam is getting serious about enforcing patent rights in the pharmaceutical realm.

In recent times we became aware of some requests for advice as to whether a statement of excuse for the non-working of a patented invention in Mexico should be filed with the Patent Office (IMPI).

According to the Greek Law on Trade Marks, civil courts have jurisdiction to rule in trade mark infringement cases, whereas administrative courts have jurisdiction on a trade mark's registrability.

Some events happened in the past months that furthered the developments in Europe to get the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) system started.