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This month we look at benefits and drawbacks of using the Madrid system to extend international trade mark registrations (IRs) to, as compared with filing national applications in, China. This article is not exhaustive and only covers some of the more important issues raised by this topic.

In a guest post, Juan José Caselles Fornés of Elzaburu discusses recent initiatives to tackle counterfeiting and piracy in Spain

A UK IPO statement has confirmed that preparations "remain fully on track" and given more detail on when the last few legislative steps should be expected. This comes a day after Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 to commence Brexit

Information on the UK's divorce from the EU, and what that means for IP rights, is becoming clearer, but many questions remain. Managing IP reports on the latest developments, offers pointers for IP practitioners and provides links to useful resources

According to German Patent Law the courts are bound by the grant of a patent by the respective Patent Office. In consequence thereof they cannot hold a patent as null and void: an action for declaration of non-infringement cannot be based on the lack of patentability of the patent. However, a defence against an infringement action is possible by pleading that according to the state of the art the infringing object is covered by that state of the art or an obvious derivation of it and therefore cannot fall under the scope of the patent if that patent (the claims) would otherwise be infringed only in an equivalent way. But such a defence is consequently denied if the claims would be infringed literally – because then that defence based on prior art is equivalent to a claim of nullity of a patent which the courts are not allowed to judge due to the concept of bifurcation. This sort of defence, namely that the infringing object is made according to prior art, is called in Germany Formsteineinwand after a decision of the German Supreme Court ruling on such a defence.

IP rights – among which is the right of the trade mark owner– enable the holder to exploit with exclusivity certain intangible assets. Every time a misappropriation or trade mark infringement takes place, the owner of the trade mark that is subject to infringement also suffers damage, due to the simple fact that a third party is using a similar or identical trade mark without their consent.

UK on course to ratify the UPC Agreement despite triggering Article 50, Germany’s ratification process progressing smoothly, UPC Preparatory Committee concludes work, UK Parliament starts discussions on the Great Repeal Bill, European Parliament and Council propose guidelines to Brexit negotiations which would have an impact on IP

(UPDATED FEBRUARY 8) Last month’s granting of an Amgen permanent injunction motion in its cholesterol drug patent dispute with Sanofi and Regeneron would “give another arrow in the quiver” of those seeking permanent injunctions in similar cases, if it is upheld on appeal

The Federal Circuit’s denial of en banc review of Unwired Planet v Google, a record quarter for PTAB petition filing, a false advertising case involving garbage bag makers, the latest on USPTO leadership and IACC praise for a President Trump executive order were in the recent intellectual property news

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has allowed Shire to cancel all claims instituted for inter partes review except for one multiple dependent claim that was amended to depend on only non-instituted claims