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Singapore is introducing many new initiatives to develop the IP industry as it matures towards being an IP hub in the ASEAN region. One such example is a new cost-effective procedure which provides parties to contentious administrative proceedings before the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) an expert determination option with effect from April 1 2014.

SIPO released the final version of the amended Patent Examination Guidelines with respect to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on March 12 2014. The new version of the PEG, which will come into effect on May 1 2014, recognises the patentability of GUI for the first time in China's 30-year patent law history.

The scenario is by now all too common:

"AMICO" Cjsc filed a trade mark application for a figurative designation comprising two wide intersecting lines of a red colour for goods in class 10, and services in classes 35, 37,42 and 44. Inside each line there were intersecting ovals of white colour shaped as stylised satellites orbits. The protection was sought in red and white.

In the first case of its kind in New Zealand, the High Court has found that using a competitor's trade mark as a Google AdWords keyword is not trade mark infringement.

In a case regarding parallel imports of spare parts for motorcycles/vehicles, the Athens Single Member Court of First Instance, by its recent judgment number 6570/2013, affirmed the principle of Community exhaustion of trade mark rights by making extensive reference to the CJEU's settled case law C-78/70 Deutsche Grammophn, C-16/74 Centrafarm BV v Winthorp BV, landmark case C-355/96 Silhouette and recent C-449/09 Kabushiki Kaisha v IPN Bulgaria.

Based on EU trade mark law, a trade mark registration can be revoked if it has become a common indication as a result of acts or omissions by the trade mark owner. In a recent ruling of the Court of First Instance of the EU Court of Justice, an interesting position was taken regarding trade marks that have become common names. The court ruled that the perception of the end users is the only relevant criterion. Additionally, "omission" is also understood as the omission by the trade mark owner to encourage sellers to make more use of the mark in marketing the respective products.

In a manufacturer-distributor relationship, does the distributor have trade mark rights? The question was answered by the Court of Appeal in La Pointique International Ltd v Soo Juan Choon & Co, Civil Appeal W-02-3706-10.

An infringement action is usually considered as a first option by trade mark holders to prevent infringement and seek monetary damages for prior infringement. Perhaps this is due to the ubiquity of obtaining ex parte orders in most trade mark cases. Recent reports, however, highlight the effectiveness of an alternative option that has existed in the statute books for a long time.

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has confirmed a criminal conviction for acts qualified as simultaneous trade mark and unfair competition law infringements.