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The new Trade Mark Law which came into force on July 23 1998 includes the provision to introduce oppositions within three months from the date of a trade mark´ s publication in the Official Bulletin.

Companies from Reebok to Pfizer have succeeded in enforcing their rights in Latin America over the past year. Emily Downes reports on the lawyers who go undercover to tackle the pirates

The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition has submitted its recommendations to Charlene Barchefsky, the US trade representative, as part of the annual “Special 301” review of countries with poor IP protection.

A federal judge has blocked a Canadian-based web site from broadcasting US TV shows. The case is the first test of how effectively copyright law can be applied to Internet transmissions.

Counterfeiting costs business more than $1bn a year in Russia, according to the Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights.

The European Patent Office has admitted that a patent for altering cells and human embryos was granted to Edinburgh University “by mistake”.

To strengthen IP rights enforcement in Singapore, new border enforcement measures were introduced in the Copyright Act and the recent Trade Marks Act 1998 to prevent infringing goods from entering Singapore. The border enforcement measures under the Trade Marks Act 1998 in particular took effect on January 15 1999 and enable a trade mark owner suspicious of any incoming shipment of infringing goods to enlist the assistance of the Customs and Excise Department. Subject to certain safeguards, the Department may seize these goods when they enter Singapore.

The German Federal Supreme Court recently issued two decisions on the registrability of slogans (Radio von hier, Radio wie wir and Partner with the Best, both dated December 8 1999), which have terminated an ongoing controversy in Germany. According to these decisions, the requirements for distinctiveness of slogans are not any greater than for regular word marks.

Under Australian law it is possible to make post grant amendments to a patent either before the Commissioner of Patents, or in the Federal Court of Australia. Typically an application for amendment to the Federal Court is lodged when the patentee is about to commence infringement proceedings on the basis of advice that amendments are required to correct defects or to limit the relevance of prior art. In a recent case, Gambro Pty Ltd v Fresenius Medical Care South East Asia Pty Ltd, amendments were sought to limit the field of invention to the area of real interest fluids for dialysis and related procedures in order to strengthen the patentee´ s position in a cross claim for invalidity.

One of the most common questions asked by foreign clients is: "What is an Amparo suit?" Often the answer from most Mexican lawyers to avoid further explanation is: an appeal.