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The revised Patent Act, which has significantly amended Korea's compulsory licensing system, will come into force on December 1 2005. The Presidential Decree, which regulates the details of the revised Act has been made public and will also take effect on the same date.

As IP owners enter into more and more cross-border licensing deals, they must be increasingly vigilant to the legal traps that await the unwary. Rodney De Boos and Jeff Bergmann of Davies Collison Cave explain how to negotiate Australia's legal landscape

Emma Barraclough, Hong Kong

"The focus of this case is a very small animal, namely a mouse - to use a poet's description, a 'Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie' (R Burns, "To a Mouse", 1785). In all other respects however, this case is not small." This is how the EPO's Technical Board of Appeal starts its reasons for the decision in the long-fought case on the validity of the European patent covering the Harvard oncomouse (T 315/03). The Board made the decision on July 6 2004, less than a year before the expiry of the patent in June 2005.

According to the last paragraph of article 78 of the Industrial Property Law (LPI), when resolving a patent invalidity claim, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) can, besides denying invalidity, declare the whole patent invalid or partial invalidity.

Owners of European IP rights are vulnerable to central attacks on validity at the EPO and OHIM, which can threaten enforcement in national courts. Mark Finn, Konstantin Ewald and Marie-Hélène Lemaitre examine what you can do to counter such an attack in the UK, France and Germany

Of all the IP regimes in Australia, copyright has seen the most dynamic developments and reforms in the last 18 months, particularly in relation to digital technology. Cameron Harvey and David Wilson of Deacons explain what the changes mean for IP owners and users

In May 2003, when India's Patent Act was amended, a new Section 107A was introduced. This provided for a research exemption as an exception to the general rules of patent infringement. Commonly known as a Bolar provision, this research exemption enables a manufacturer of generic drugs to use a patented invention to obtain marketing approval without the patent owner's permission before the patent expires. The generic drug maker can then market their own version of the patented drug as soon as the patent expires.

Consumer groups argue that parallel trading leads to cheaper prices but trade mark owners say it jeopardizes their long-term relationships with both distributors and consumers. Peter Hallett of Griffith Hack explains what IP owners can do to stop the trade in Australia

Illegal exemptions to music royalty collection in the US are costing European performers $20 million dollars a year.