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It is a priority at WIPO to foster development of intellectual property laws and practices among least developed countries. Liberia found itself a target of encouragement to replace the 1972 law, as unofficially amended in 1994 to recognise (and impose annuities on) PCT patents and in 2000 to embrace the Nice Classification.

We are about to embark on major litigation. However, we want to ensure the costs are kept under control. What measures can we take?

Europe's highest court has been asked to rule on whether fake goods in transit through the EU can be seized by Customs, report James Nurton and Emma Barraclough

China's government has released draft rules on national standards. Peter Ollier reports

Eileen McDermott reports from Washington DC on the oral arguments in the Bilski case

Mae Lin Ng and Pui Keng Lim of Advanz Fidelis look at possible amendments to the Trade Marks Act and pick out significant court cases of the last year

When two parties own and use arguably similar marks, they are often able to address their respective concerns regarding the other's use and resolve any differences between them amicably by entering into what is commonly referred to as a Co-Existence Agreement. A Co-Existence Agreement typically operates to either provide consent from a senior user of a mark to a junior user's use of a similar mark and/or to resolve a dispute regarding competing uses of a mark when an adversarial proceeding is pending.

It is very difficult to cancel registered trade marks in Vietnam (even cases of obvious bad faith may take up to two years to resolve, which is both time-consuming and costly to rights owners). This means rights holders and their counsel need to quickly oppose trade mark applications prior to registration. Accordingly, it is important to understand the relevant timelines that affect the filing of oppositions in Vietnam.

In 2009, a Swiss Federal Act establishing a specialised Federal Patent Court was passed. The new court will become the only first instance Swiss court for patent infringement and nullity proceedings (which to date have been handled by 26 cantonal courts of first instance), with Swiss national patents and the Swiss parts of European patents falling within the Court's jurisdiction. The Swiss Federal Court will retain its present function as second instance in patent matters. The new Patent Court will be constituted in 2010 and is expected to take up work early in 2011.

Marie-Julie Wan Ullok and Khoo Guan Huat of Skrine describe the progress that has been made in improving IP protection in the life sciences in Malaysia