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What is our brand and what makes it successful? That is the key question brand owners and company brand managers have to answer before embarking on any further tasks. The answer is not straightforward. A brand is more than just a trade mark or a logo or a slogan - it is a combination of all these and more, including colours, symbols, signs and shapes. A brand is all that makes a company and its products stand out in the eye of the consumer and what leads him or her to prefer one company's products over that of another.

Piracy and counterfeiting offences remain widespread in the Philippines, but a boost to the country's IP protection and enforcement law could change the situation. Ignacio S Sapalo and Augusto R Bundang of Sapalo & Velez give a detailed outline of what is available to rights owners

On July 1 2004, Singapore's trade mark legislation was amended to introduce better protection for well-known trade marks. One novelty is the introduction of trade mark dilution. Kevin Wong and Nathan Lau of ECSF explain why this is good news for brand owners

Malaysia's success as a global trading partner means that trade mark creation and protection are more important in the country than ever. Karen Abraham of Shearn Delamore & Co provides a run-down of the brand management process

The ECJ's case law on three-dimensional shape marks in recent years has had its effects on German jurisprudence. Aloys Hüttermann of Maiwald explains why applicants need to be extra careful when registering their shape marks in the future

The existence of two official languages in Canada has affected trade mark registration procedures in the country. Joanne Nardi of Torys explains how language issues set Canada's trade mark law apart from those of the rest of the world

A brand's identity is comprised of more than just its name or logo, and includes all the associations that consumers attach to the brand. Studies demonstrate that consumer knowledge of a brand's identity will influence how they evaluate extensions of that brand into different product categories. By Andrew Lockhart and Eugene Ford of Shelston IP

Clearing a new trade mark in the expanded EU can be a tiresome and costly task for in-house trade mark counsel. Daan Teeuwissen and Ellen Gevers of Knijff have found one solution which they say will make brand owners' lives easier

Russia and the other former countries of the Soviet Union are a nightmare for rights owners. Now a group of companies have got together to tackle the problems from the bottom up. James Nurton reports

Australia:The government said that it was considering adopting a US-style fair use defence to copying that would allow consumers to copy films and music without the risk of breaking the law. At the moment, anyone who copies a CD to their Apple iPod or a cassette is technically infringing the Copyright Act. Australia:The head of the business lobby group Australian Industry Group urged the government to set up an IP monitoring and dispute panel before it starts any negotiations with China over a free trade agreement. India: A Delhi High Court judge ruled that a famous sculptor has complete rights over a work he created for a state building. The Judge ruled that Amar Nath Seghal had an actionable right under the Copyright Act, even though the government owned the mural's copyright. The court ordered the government to return the artwork to the sculptor and pay him Rs500,000 ($11,400) in compensation. The judge also ruled that the government no longer had any rights over the work. Japan:Judge Katsumi Shinohara of the Tokyo High Court's IP Department is to become the first president of Japan's IP High Court. The court will start work on April 1, and will have jurisdiction over all IP cases brought before the Tokyo High Court.