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The past year has seen a flurry of judicial activity across Asia as countries try to boost their IP courts. Emma Barraclough considers the latest developments, and how they will benefit IP owners

A new streamlined procedure has been introduced to make patent litigation cheaper in the UK. But will it make the courts more attractive to patent owners? James Nurton reports Plus: Interview with Mr Justice Robin Jacob

James Nurton, Munich

Franchising is booming in China as foreign investment increases. Mark Abell and Tina (Yanfei) Ran examine whether the new Franchise Regulation will give it still more impetus, and provide an overview of other relevant legislation

Peter Ollier introduces the Managing IP trade mark survey results, and looks at how a proposed trade agreement could help tackle global counterfeiting and piracy

Peter van Essen of Nederlandsch Octrooibureau examines the impact of a recent Dutch case that provides lessons on patent invalidity actions

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

Given the economic situation, my company is looking to cut costs from our IP department and one option is not to renew some of our patent portfolio. Which factors should I consider in deciding which patents not to renew?

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has issued new guidance on the patentability of computer programs. This follows the Court of Appeal's rejection of the UKIPO's appeal in the recent Symbian case and confirmation that there will be no further appeal to the House of Lords. The key statement in the new guidance is that the Symbian case confirms "that the Aerotel/Macrossan test is intended to be in substance the same test as that relied on in the prior UK case law". Previously, the UKIPO had taken what was arguably a more restrictive approach to the application of the Aerotel test in that identification of a "technical contribution" was treated as only a check to confirm that a computer-implemented invention was patentable once it had passed the other stages of the assessment set out in the Aerotel case (see UKIPO Practice Notice dated November 2 2006).

As a party to the TRIPs Agreement, Singapore accepted the latest amendments to the TRIPS Agreement on September 28 2007 and recently revised the Patents Act to reflect these amendments. With effect from December 1 2008, specific provisions such as sections 2, 56, 60, 62 and 66 of the Patents Act, allow the Singapore Government or any third party authorised by the Government to import any health products or to do anything in relation to the imported health products in times of a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency.