Search results for

In May 2009, Vietnam's National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) vowed to clarify various ambiguities surrounding patentability of use claims in Vietnam. At present, the NOIP interprets the relevant provisions of Vietnam's Law on Intellectual Property as prohibiting use claims. Each patent examination division in the NOIP treats this matter in different ways.

The launch of Google's Street View service in the UK last month caused many commentators to condemn the service as a breach of privacy and basic human rights. The residents of one Buckinghamshire village were so outraged at the idea of their houses being photographed for the service that when the Google car arrived to snap the village, they formed a human barrier forcing the car to turn around (ironically drawing more attention to themselves than if they had just let the car through).

Widespread copyright infringement on the internet has a serious impact on a range of businesses. Since activities on the internet cannot be conducted without using internet service providers (ISPs), these ISPs are at risk of being sued by copyright holders. Because this situation is unfavourable to the growth and development of the internet industry, and in an attempt to deter online copyright infringement, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) drafted an amendment to the Copyright Act on February 14 2008 to specify the limitations on ISP liability. The amendment was passed by the legislative body on April 21 2009.

Under Thai practice, an application for a trade mark with multiple meanings may be rejected if one of the possible meanings of the mark could be considered descriptive of the goods for which registration is sought. Contrary to this common practice, however, the following case provides an example of a trade mark application that was initially rejected by the registrar on grounds of descriptiveness, but was subsequently accepted for registration by the Board of Trade Marks.

The patent prosecution highway (PPH) pilot programme between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) was implemented on February 2 2009 to allow applicants to obtain corresponding patents in the United States and Singapore more quickly and efficiently. Under the PPH, when at least one claim in an application in either one of these countries has been found to be patentable, the applicant can apply for fast track examination of the corresponding claim(s) in the US and Singapore patent applications, respectively.

As policy makers search for ways to tackle climate change, IP owners are becoming concerned that patent rights in green technologies could be under threat. Eileen McDermott and Emma Barraclough report

In the international discussions on the future of an international GI system, Italian food and wine producers are at the forefront of lobbying in favour of extended GI protection - none more so than the producers of two of Italy's best-known products, Parma ham and Parmesan cheese. Stéphanie Bodoni spoke to Federico de Simoni of Prosciutto di Parma, and Giorgio Bocedi, for Parmigiano Reggiano

A monthly column devoted to IP curiosities and controversies, named in honour of John of Utynam – who received the world's first recorded patent in 1449

The US Supreme Court last month handed down rulings in two of the most anticipated IP cases of recent years. Sam Mamudi analyzes what the judgments mean for rights owners

Kevin Wong and Angeline Raj of ECSF in Singapore examine the trade mark implications of the recent United States - Singapore Free Trade Agreement, and argue that it should lead to stronger protection for brand owners