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The most highly anticipated case in the fashion world in 2012 was Christian Louboutin v Yves St Laurent, in which footwear designer Christian Louboutin sued design house Yves St Laurent over footwear incorporating a red sole, claiming that it infringed Louboutin's trade mark registration covering a lacquered red sole on footwear. An April ruling by the USPTO finally put an end to this case, the net impact of which may be more noteworthy not for the questions it answered but for the questions that it left open.

In Taiwanese practice, a surname used in connection with goods or services is generally for indicating the surname of the supplier, not as a source identifier. Therefore, in principle, an applicant applying to register a surname needs to prove that the surname has acquired distinctiveness through long term and extensive use.

Under the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, the "acts of unfair competition" include "an act of causing confusion with another person's commercial facilities or activities by using signs identical or similar to another person's name, trade name, emblem or any other sign widely known in the Republic of Korea as an indication of commerce."

A feature of the Singapore patent system that makes it very cost-effective is that a Singapore patent may be obtained based on the search and examination results of certain corresponding foreign patents and patent applications. It is therefore possible to avoid the costs of a local Singaporean search or local Singaporean search and examination.

The Russian language is rich in idiomatic expressions. Russians are also known for their consumption of vodka, sometimes inordinate consumption. An application was filed recently for a combined trade mark with the word element "Squirrel – Here I Am" in class 33, Vodka. The word 'squirrel' is at the top of the picture and 'here I am' is under the claws. This will mean nothing to a foreigner. He/she will only wonder at the somewhat strange expression of the squirrel's face with its rolled-out eyes and bared ugly teeth.

Four months have gone by and the Supreme Court has not issued a restraining order to the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) to stop accepting trade mark applications filed through the Madrid Protocol.

The quid pro que behind grant of a patent in a country other than its origin is to help scientific advances by dissemination of knowledge and transfer of technology. Exploitation of a patented invention without prejudicing commerce and industry in the country of grant is considered to be the best mode of achieving this objective.

The Court of Appeal has granted an interim injunction to an online tax refunds service called NZ Tax Refunds, to prevent respondents from using the domain name www.taxrefundnz.co.nz and the trading name Tax Refund NZ. The appeal partially overturned an earlier decision of the High Court. In a separate and undisturbed finding, the High Court had granted an interim injunction in favour of NZ Tax Refunds to prevent use of the name NZ-Tax Refund and the domain name www.nz-taxrefund.co.nz.

The patent prosecution highway (PPH) is a programme in which the applicant enjoys an expedited examination of his patent application, leading to a considerable reduction in the time taken to obtain its possible grant. The Mexican Intellectual Property Office (IMPI) has PPH pilot programmes with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), SIPO in China and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM), and permanent PPH programmes with the USPTO and the Japanese Patent Office JPO.

The Malaysian Competition Act 2010 came into force on January 1 2012. It prohibits anti-competitive and abusive practices that would have an effect on competition in any market in Malaysia, irrespective of whether the commercial activity was carried out within or outside of Malaysia.