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In a decision recently published in the Official Journal of the EPO (case T 1843/09), a technical board of appeal of the EPO has allowed a rare exception to the otherwise well-established principle of the prohibition of reformatio in peius.

It goes without saying that the protection of one's intellectual property is of great importance, but how does that work in the case of a joint ownership of a trade mark?

In its judgment of December 5 2013, the Higher District Court of Düsseldorf referred to the Court of Justice of the EU the question of whether Article 10(6) of Directive 2001/83/EC on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use should be interpreted as meaning that the exemption from patent protection also extends to the supplies by a third party of a patent-protected active agent for purely commercial reasons to a generics producer who intends to conduct studies or trials for a marketing authorisation.

A French trade mark is valid in the overseas departments and territories (called DROM), namely Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion and Mayotte as well as the overseas communities (called COM), namely Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

While the Basmati patent rights dispute caught the world's notice, the domestic controversy relating to GI protection over Basmati rice has hardly been given any attention. In a decision issued on December 31 2013, the Geographical Indications Registry (GI Registry) rejected an application filed by an export promotion council (APEDA) seeking GI protection over Basmati rice. The GI application was filed in 2008 and was opposed by six different opponents, including the state government of Madhya Pradesh. All parties claimed they represented the interests of the Basmati-growing farmers.

Australia's highest court has recently confirmed that patents are available for the broad grounds of methods of medical treatment.

The Supreme Court’s unanimous overturning of the Federal Court decision in Medtronic v Mirowski Family Ventures will remove uncertainty over which party has the burden of proof in patent licensing disputes and may lead to further challenges to licensed patents from licensees

Policy makers should consider extending the term of IP protection offered to pharmaceutical products to encourage more research into new drugs, a new report has recommended

In the second of our series looking at the launch of new gTLDs, we profile .club, whose sunrise started yesterday

After a process lasting ten years, China has recently revised its Trade Mark Law, which will take effect on May 1 2014. At an opinion-collecting meeting hosted by the Law Committee of the National People's Congress and the Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Legislature of China last year, changes in the new law, and the need for such changes were discussed. Such changes are summarised below.