Search results for

The patenting of biotechnology raises both ethical and practical concerns. Dirk Bühler and Martin Huenges of Maiwald analyse recent cases to consider how the EPO is handling the issues

As an EU member state, Poland, is bound by Council Regulation (EC) 1383 of July 22 2003 which came into effect on July 1 2004, determining the actions of Customs authorities against goods deemed to be infringing IP rights, as well as the measures to be taken by Customs authorities in respect of such goods. In addition, the territory of Poland as a member state of the EU is subject to an additional regulation, namely Council Regulation (EC)189/2004 of October 21 2004, which came into effect with retroactive date on July 1 2004 and sets executive regulations to the Council Regulation (EC) 1383/2003.

On July 1 2009, the Rule on Mandatory Legal Aid Service, which was issued by the Philippine Supreme Court on February 10 this year, takes effect. This Rule mandates practising lawyers to render free legal aid services equivalent to a minimum of 60 hours a year, in all cases whether civil, criminal and administrative involving indigent and pauper litigants needing lawyers. The purpose of the Rule is to improve access to justice by the less privileged thereby enhancing the duty of lawyers to society as agents of social change, and to the courts.

Under Article 67(2) of the Japanese Patent Act, if there is a period during which a patented invention is unable to be worked because certain governmental approvals, which are prescribed by the Act to ensure safety or any other disposition designated by Cabinet Order, are necessary for the operation of the patented invention, the duration of the patent may be extended, upon the filing of an application.

The China State Copyright Administration published the new Implementing Measures on Administrative Actions against Copyright Infringements by Decree no 6 on April 21 2009. This came into force on June 15 2009 and replaced the old measures issued in September 1 2003.

In a recent decision concerning the Amazon.com 1-click ordering system, the Patent Appeal Board re-examined the criteria for patentable subject matter in relation to business method patents. While finding the subject matter not obvious in accordance with the test adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Board held that it failed to fall within the statutory definition of invention as qualified by judicial interpretation.

The report of the Technical Expert Group on Patent Law Issues, led by RA Mashelkar, was resubmitted to the Union Ministry for Trade and Commerce in March 2009. It was first submitted in December 2006 and was withdrawn for review owing to some technical inaccuracies in the Report.

Within the next few months, the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) is expected to rule that a fundamental violation of a party's right to be heard occurred in appeal proceedings concerning the opposition against EP 978251, Hoya Corp v Olympus Corp. A communication of the EBA dated May 18 2009 indicates that this will be the probable conclusion in petition for review case number R 7/09. Assuming that the EBA decides accordingly in its final ruling, R 7/09 will be the first ever case in which the EBA allows a petition for review and re-opens proceedings in a case after issuance of a last-instance decision in appeal.

Standard setting organisations aim to balance the needs of patent holders and consumers. Cyrille Amar and Jean-Marc Puech of Lavoix Avocats explain the effect of the FRAND undertaking in practice

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) recently approved the binding corporate rules (BCRs) of the Accenture and Atmel groups of companies, giving them freedom to transfer personal data from the UK to other entities within their own corporate groups which operate outside the EEA.