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According to German case law, patents directed to the use of a substance or a device for a certain purpose may confer protection which goes beyond the actual application of the method of use. If the product involved shows an "obvious orientation" or "apparent adaptation" towards the protected use, a use claim protects a patentee essentially in the same manner as a product claim directed to that product. This adaptation of the product includes acts as formulation, ready-for-use packaging together with instructions, dosage (for medical substances), or similar preparations towards the protected use.

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The so-called Belgian torpedo action has become a popular defence to a cross-border patent action. But three recent cases threaten to undermine its effectiveness. Johann Pitz reports

On May 25 1999, the Russian President issued a Decree on the "Structure of Federal Executive Bodies". That Decree meant a major reshuffle of the governmental bodies responsible for various facets of the functioning of the Russian national economy. The Decree set up or reorganized a number of federal entities and abolished other federal bodies. For the most part, the changes concerned relatively unimportant entities and mostly remained unnoticed.

Brave choices, unpopular decisions

The Romanian Patent Law 64/1991 provides for the possibility of obtaining an improvement patent.

The European Commission has taken a big step towards the implementation of the European Community Patent. On July 5, following discussions at the Lisbon and Fiera summits, internal market commissioner Frits Bolkestein announced that the single EU patent should be available by the end of next year.

The explosive growth in the internet has forced businesses to find new ways of valuing all their assets, not least their brands. Weston Anson explains the main approaches that are emerging for internet brand valuation

The Netherlands "cross-border" judgments in European patent proceedings are famous. In the past a European patent owner could obtain a pan-European cross-border injunction from the Netherlands judges.

The Trade Mark Act which came into force on March 1 2000 has brought some changes to the Trade Mark Law of Finland. The new Trade Mark Act has brought the Finnish Trade Mark Law into line with the Trade Mark Treaty (TLT).