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Under Taiwan's patent practice, patent applications become publicly available for inspection after they are laid-open or published. However, someone wishing to obtain a copy of the entire file wrapper of a laid-open or published application needs to place an order with the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office and potentially wait a while for it to arrive.

A recent decision (T-437/11 of September 16) by the General Court allowed Golden Balls to use his registration "Golden Balls", despite a long legal battle with Intra-Press, the owners of the "Ballon d'Or" trade mark.

The Calcutta High Court settled a long-standing dispute between Hindustan Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser on comparative advertisements for their products on September 23. The pertinent issue was whether the advertisements made by both parties fell foul of sections 29 and 30 of the Trademarks Act, 1999.

Dilution of a well-known trade mark includes weakening, diluting and derogating the distinctiveness of the mark. In practice, it appears that using the same or very a similar well-known mark of another party in respect of non-identical or dissimilar goods, which weaken and dilute its distinctiveness, affects the discernment of the well-known trade mark and its affinity to consumers.

Just as trade mark filings and registrations have seen a remarkable rise in the Near East over the past 10 to 20 years, we are now witnessing a similar phenomenon with patents. This rise in filings is driven by the need for protection in new emerging markets as well as an improved IP rights and enforcement environment. One country in the region that stands out is Saudi Arabia. In 2013, two major patent-related events have attested to Saudi's commitment to ensuring accessible and robust IP.

In a recent case an Australian franchisor of drive-through coffee outlets operating under the trade mark Muzz Buzz was able to stop a New Zealand operator trading under the name Jitta Buzz. Although the defendant was active in New Zealand well before the plaintiff, the court considered it had copied the business model and overall presentation from the plaintiff's Australian operation. The defendant's behaviour in this respect appeared to be sufficient to sway the court despite the strength of the plaintiff's causes of action being prima facie dubious.

The Australian Council of Intellectual Property (ACIP) has announced another review of the innovation patents system. This review will again look at options in dealing with the innovation patents system, where issues, including the granting of patents that lack of an inventive step test (so they are otherwise obvious), has led to substantial frictions in trade and commerce.

In accordance with Indonesian Patent Law 14 of 2001, Article 54, the Directorate General must approve or refuse an application for a patent, at the latest 36 months from the date of receipt of the request for substantive examination and at the latest 24 months from the filing date for a simple patent.

The US Seventh Circuit has held that before invalidating a copyright registration due to inaccurate application statements, the trial court must consult the Copyright Registrar. DeliverMed v Schaltenbrand involved a dispute between former business partners. DeliverMed, a marketing firm, and Medicate Pharmacy worked together on a mail-order pharmaceutical business. In 2008, DeliverMed hired Deeter Associates to design a logo for the venture. Deeter tasked a freelance artist to do the work. The freelancer did not transfer the logo's copyright to Deeter.

It's an age-old dilemma for governments: they want to take advice from those with real-life experience but they don't want to be seen to be beholden to sectoral interests. So what does the appointment of Mike Weatherley as an adviser mean for IP?