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Stricter criteria are generally applied to pharmaceutical marks when assessing the similarity of goods and the likelihood of confusion, given the negative effects that such confusion could have on a consumer's health and wellbeing.

Aquestion frequently asked by trade mark owners is whether consent by the owner of an earlier trade mark application or registration would overcome an examiner's objection on the ground of confusing similarity. This was answered in the negative in the recent case of DVB Project v Director of Trademarks, decided by the Office of the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) on December 6 2012.

The new year ushered in a few more PCT Patent Prosecution Highway pilot programmes (PCT-PPH), reducing the workload for cooperating patent offices and expediting examination for qualified applications.

Whilst a product patent in Pakistan confers the exclusive right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import for these purposes that product, the scope of protection under a process patent also extends to acts done against "at least" the product directly obtained by that process – provided a claim drawn on a process for the production of X (the direct product) is there to determine the extent of protection. Import is one of the acts against which the direct or immediate product of a patented process is protected.

The New Zealand High Court has reversed a decision by the Assistant Commissioner of Trade Marks that upheld an application by the Mill Liquor Save for the word mark MacGowans covering "whisky flavoured spirits; none of the foregoing being whisky", despite opposition by the Scotch Whisky Association.

The first fine has been issued under New Zealand’s three strikes anti-illegal downloading regime, according to a report in Stuff.co.nz

Impliva recently filed a declaration of invalidity with regard to an umbrella design applied for by Senz Technologies. It was held to be invalid because a pre-published US patent (US 5,505,221) showed the same overall impression as the deposited design.

Much has been written about the paperless office in recent years, and the rapid development of IT is enabling an increasing number of paperless practices. Paradoxically, consumption of paper has increased exponentially since the increased availability of computers and printers. The main reason is that we have become conditioned to use paper since childhood and paper has become an intimate part of how we generate, access and store information.

Malaysia's responsiveness to counterfeiting and piracy was rewarded when it was announced in April 2012 that it had been removed from the USTR's 2012 Special 301 Review. The removal of Malaysia from the US special watch list comes as Malaysia strengthens its IP legislation and steps up enforcement measures, including in the area of copyright.

Toe Su Aung has been elected the 2013 president of INTA and chair of its Board of Directors. She is the general counsel covering anti-illicit trade for BATMark, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco. Aung’s work for BATMark focuses on anti-counterfeiting and piracy, as well as governance and advocacy.